Oshiomhole, Okowa engage in war of words over Edo guber

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has alleged that his counterpart in Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa is conniving with the Edo state chapter of the PDP to distabilise the coming Edo guber elections – In reaction, the Delta State governor has dismissed the allegation as laughable and baseless – Delta state government says Governor Okowa is too refined to engage in such clandestine activities

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state and his counterpart in Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa have engaged in hot exchanges over accusations by the former that Okowa is planning to recruit thugs and hooligans to register as voters in Edo state ahead of the September 10 governorship election.

The Edo state government in a statement on Wednesday, June 22, through the state commissioner for information and orientation, Kassim Afegbua alleged that Governor Okowa connived with the Edo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to send political thugs to the fringe villages between the two states to fraudulently register as eligible voters with the intention to use them to cause mayhem before and during the election, Premium Times reports. According to the commissioner: “From the information at our disposal, 40 political thugs have been dispatched to each of these border villages with the sole aim of registering them as voters before engaging their services to perpetrate violence during the election. “We wish to place the security agencies on notice of this untoward intention of the Delta State Government with their Edo PDP collaborators to cause a breach of security in Edo state” he added. But in a swift reaction, the Delta state governor dismissed the allegation, describing it as laughable and baseless. According to Daily Trust, Governor Okowa in a statement issued by his chief press secretary Charles Ehiedu Aniagwu said it was preposterous for the Edo state government to expect that Deltans would leave their constituencies and embark on a wild goose chase of registering to vote in Edo state. “Edo State government has also betrayed its ignorance of the workings of the Permanent Voter Card, which makes multiple registrations impossible. “Governor Okowa is too refined to engage in such clandestine activities to the extent of decimating his own support base by encouraging his constituents to register in another state. What becomes the fate of Delta political stakeholders who would rely on the votes of those people in subsequent elections?” he queried. Okowa described the allegations as vindictive of loss of confidence of the APC-led government to woo voters because there was nothing to show in the last eight years.