PDP cries out, Presidency to place Anenih, Igbinedion, others under House arrest

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that the Presidency plans to plant men of the Department of State Services (DSS) around the residences of its prominent leaders across the state.

The party listed those marked out to be placed on house arrest to include, the former PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Chief Tom Ikimi, the state Chairman, Chief Dan Osi Orbih and the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu among several others.

The party said this in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Chris Osa Nehikhare, which he made available to Ripples Nigeria in a text message on Tuesday evening.

He said, “We have just received credible information from our very reliable inside source that the Presidency has perfected a scheme to plant men of the Department of State Services, around the residences of some prominent PDP leaders across Edo State. The purpose of this is to prevent them from moving out of their homes after 10pm tonight.

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“It will be recalled that a few days ago, the APC had written a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with a long list of PDP members across the state who they accused of obtaining free movement tags, to be used on election day.

“The PDP leadership in Edo state has described this allegation as baseless and wishes to inform Nigerians and Edo people that all relevant tags which are obtained lawfully, from INEC, are the only tags which have been provided to members. The same tags were also provided for APC members. Any illegal attempt to restrict the movement of our members and leaders will be met with strong protests as freedom of movement is a fundamental right as enshrined in our constitution.

“Finally, we also use this medium to alert Nigerians and the international community on the nefarious activities of Oshiomhole’s arrests and intimidation of our members in Edo north, especially in neighbouring towns and villages to his Iyamo hometown. The election of a governor for Edo State must be conducted according to the electoral laws of Nigeria. Any plan by the APC controlled Federal Government to subvert the will of Edo people, will either lead to an unprecedented outcome or an uncontrollable resistance.”

By Ebere Ndukwu …

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