Edo PDP chairperson disowns ‘false’ statement circulated by Obaseki’s aide

Anthony Aziegbemi, the chairperson of the PDP in Edo State, has disowned a statement circulated by Governor Godwin Obaseki’s aide, Crusoe Osagie.

The statement claimed that Nigeria’s Presidency, through the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, was plotting to manipulate the forthcoming governorship election in Edo.

On 14 September, Mr Osagie, the special adviser to the Edo state governor on media projects, emailed a statement he claimed emanated from Mr Aziegbemi to media houses, including Premium Times.

Premium Times did not run a story from the statement because the claims in it were unsubstantiated.

The statement, which Mr Aziegbemi has disowned, alleged that Mr Ribadu had released $2 million to the APC governorship candidate in Edo “to buy votes and bribe security agencies during the election”.

Mr Aziegbemi’s disclaimer came hours after Mr Ribadu demanded N10 billion as damages to his reputation and threatened to sue him.

The statement Mr Osagie circulated alleged that the national security adviser, acting on a directive from the Presidency, planned to “disrupt” the 21 September election and “manipulate the poll in favour of the APC and that Mr Ribadu was working with the leadership of Nigeria’s secret police, SSS, on it.

“As part of the evil ploy, security chiefs have been ordered to make heavy deployment to the strongholds of the PDP, especially those of the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki and our party’s candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, with the plan to destabilise the voting process in those areas,” the statement said.

“Some of the polling unit, registration area, and ward electoral officials have been uncovered to be card-carrying members of the APC. Their task, we have learnt, is to delay the results of their respective units with the aim of inciting violence and creating an unfavourable atmosphere during the election to favour the APC candidate during the compilation of results.

“The same poll officials and APC card-carrying members, we have gathered, are to be deployed to APC strongholds where they will ensure that ballot papers do not get to the polling units, setting the stage to declare the results in favour of the APC.”

The statement also accused the INEC Chairperson, Mahmood Yakubu and the Resident Electoral Commission in Edo, Anugbum Onuoha, of being part of the “rigging plan”.

Pre-election violence and tension have characterised the Edo election, which is just five days away. Governor Obaseki and the PDP have accused the police and INEC of being biased against the PDP.

‘Entirely false’

Mr Ribadu, through his lawyer, Marian Aigbedion of the Charles Musa & Co chambers, Abuja, said the allegations were “entirely false”.

“This malicious and libellous Statement has brought our Client into public disdain and odium. Your portrayal of our Client as a corruption enabler and his office as an appendage of a political party willing to cause chaos in Edo State is entirely false and damaging to his reputation,” the lawyer, Ms Aigbedion, said to the Edo PDP chairperson, Mr Aziegbemi, in a letter dated 15 September.

Apart from the N10 billion, Mr Ribadu demanded a retraction and a written apology from Mr Aziegbemi.

‘Not from me’

On 15 September, Mr Aziegbemi issued a disclaimer on the statement circulated by Mr Osagie. He said the statement was not from him and added that political opponents were most likely behind it.

“In this election season, all sorts of false statements and forged documents, mischievously ascribed to us, are peddled by persons who do not mean well for our campaign. This is the handiwork of such irresponsible mischief-makers, which should be disregarded in its entirety,” the PDP chairperson said.

The statement circulated by Mr Osagie and the disclaimer by Mr Aziegbemi were produced on paper with the Edo PDP letterhead (with the same contact address, phone number, and email address) and signatures that looked similar.

Mr Osagie did not respond to calls and a text message from our reporter.

PREMIUM TIMES spoke with Mr Aziegbemi on Monday morning on the matter. The paper asked him if he knew that Mr Osagie, a media aide to Governor Obaseki, circulated the statement he disclaimed.

“I don’t know if Crusoe (Osagie) issued it or not. What I know is that I didn’t issue it. So I have disclaimed it,” he responded.