Protest: Edo group accuses PDP of plot to set up APC

From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin

The Campaign for Ethics and Good Governance has accused the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of supporting the #EndBadGovernment protest to give the All Progressives Congress (APC) a bad name.
The group, in a statement by its convener, Lucky Efe, decried the alleged mobilisation of youths by the PDP across the state, claiming it was part of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s declaration that “Nigeria will burn” a few weeks ago.
The convener of the group noted that they were aware of the plot by the PDP and the state government to use the protest to cause mayhem and accuse the APC of breaching the peace of the state.
Efe called on residents of the state to shun any act that will disrupt its peace, especially with the governorship election just a few weeks away.
He said while other state governors were dissuading their youths to shun the protest, Edo State government was on the other hand encouraging the youths to troop to the streets.
The statement added that the action of the PDP and the governor was intended to smear the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Efe claimed that the ruling PDP has also suspended its campaign in the state in solidarity with the planned protest.
The director-general of the PDP Campaign Council, Matthew Idurioyekemen, had in a statement, said the suspension of its campaign was its own way of “showing solidarity with the pauperised Nigerian people.”
But the Campaign for Ethics and Good Governance said it was looking at the bigger picture of the country because any form of protest will take the nation back to the trenches.
On Wednesday, the state government had said it was shocked at the resolve of the APC to orchestrate crisis and cause mayhem in the State by its decision to kick-start its state-wide rally on August 1, 2024 coinciding with the commencement of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance demonstrations by the citizenry.

It said while all state governments and the Federal Government were adopting measures to resolve lingering issues to diffuse tension and restore normalcy, the Edo State chapter of the APC had decided on kicking off its state-wide rally across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State.

It alleged that their plan is to cause a clash between their members and supporters and the protesters and ultimately engineer a clash and blame the Edo State Security Network for any crisis. This is part of a larger plan to cause chaos in the State.

The government warned that if the APC should go ahead with what it termed ill-timed rally across the State and it eventually leads to disruption of public peace and destruction of property, the state would bring the full weight of the law on the perpetrators and ensure that those involved are brought to justice.