The Peoples Democratic Party’s Edo State chapter blasted the All Progressives Congress on Friday for claiming to have taken back its party secretariat from the PDP, arguing that it is still the building’s rightful occupant.
The PDP called the action an invasion and cautioned that the way the APC, under the leadership of Jaret Tenebe, its state chairman, took over the facility was a risky invitation to chaos. The party urged Governor Monday Okpebholo and the APC to use prudence before the issue worsened and for President Bola Tinubu to step in.
The Edo State PDP Chairman, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, along with the party’s secretary, Chris Nehikhare, and the director-general of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council for the September 21, 2024 election, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, spoke at a press conference in Benin on Friday and denounced the state’s growing atmosphere of terror.
According to Aziegbemi, who was at the secretariat when the APC stormed at approximately 1:31 p.m. on Thursday, he called the Divisional Police Officer at Aideyan Police Station right away. Even though the station was less than five minutes away, the DPO didn’t come until 2:42 pm. The PDP chairman emphasized that the secretariat’s building is owned by a private individual and asked why the APC chairman did not get in touch with the landlord if the property did, in fact, have a legal leasing agreement.
Describing the incident as “executive recklessness and a precursor to anarchy,” Aziegbemi accused the APC in Edo State of perpetuating “brigandage, illegality, and violent assaults on democracy.” He warned that if these actions continue unchecked, they could lead to widespread chaos in the state.
“At 1:31 pm on Thursday, 16 January 2025, the APC, using several Hilux vans and other vehicles led by Jaret Tenebe, deployed thugs supported by police officers from the Government House to forcibly remove the PDP from its secretariat on Airport Road, Benin City, the Edo State capital,” Aziegbemi said.
“The entire operation was violent and brutal, lasting more than an hour. The secretariat was vandalised, banners and materials destroyed, and lives endangered, including mine. I was forcibly removed from my office with the assistance of the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Blessing Agbebaku, amidst violence and assault.”
He continued, “This is arguably the worst attack on democracy in Nigeria since 1999. Even military regimes were not as brutal against dissenting voices as Governor Okpebholo’s administration has been since taking office on 12 November 2024.”
“Today’s violent takeover of the PDP secretariat is part of a broader pattern of harassment, intimidation, and extortion by thugs operating under the protection of the state government. The same tactics have been used to oust elected council chairmen and vice-chairmen, as well as to terrorise traders and transporters in markets and motor parks.”
The PDP urged the federal government, foreign organizations, civil society groups, and other interested parties to step in and stop the governor of Edo State’s “lawlessness.” Edo is near the edge, Aziegbemi said. Edo State’s democracy is in flames.
The state is currently experiencing a bad wind that will not help anyone. Jaret Tenebe, the state chairman of the Edo APC, responded by asserting that the building had been leased as the APC secretariat for seven years prior to Godwin Obaseki, the immediate past governor, turning it into the PDP secretariat after defecting to the PDP in 2020.
