Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has criticized certain politicians based in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for threatening violence in the ongoing Edo State governorship election, describing them as living in a “fool’s paradise.”<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole made the statement shortly before casting his vote at Iyamoh Primary School, Ward 10 PU1, Etsako West Local Government Area. He expressed optimism that the election would remain peaceful, despite provocative rhetoric coming from individuals far removed from the voting process.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the importance of the election, Oshiomhole emphasized that the integrity of the process matters more than the actual result, urging stakeholders to focus on ensuring a free and fair election. “The credibility of the electoral process is key,” Oshiomhole said. “It\u2019s not about the winner; it\u2019s about ensuring the process is respected and credible.”<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole went on to accuse an acting national chairman of a political party, operating from Abuja, of issuing threats and attempting to incite violence in Edo. “Some people are threatening violence. One of the acting national chairmen said there would be a bloodbath. He is in Abuja making these threats, but the reality on the ground is different,” Oshiomhole remarked. “The way people are conducting themselves shows that these politicians are living in a fool’s paradise.”<\/p>\n
He reassured voters and observers that the atmosphere at many polling stations was calm, with peaceful voting underway. Oshiomhole shared that he had received phone calls from various locations, confirming that voters were casting their ballots in a peaceful environment. “I have received calls from people who have already started voting, and they said the atmosphere is peaceful. I believe this peaceful situation will prevail across the state,” he said.<\/p>\n
His comments came in the wake of an earlier statement made by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, on September 14, in which Obaseki described the governorship election as a “do-or-die affair.” Obaseki’s declaration raised concerns about the possibility of violence during the election, with many calling for calm and restraint from political leaders.<\/p>\n
Oshiomhole, a former governor of Edo State, urged politicians to abandon inflammatory rhetoric and instead focus on the welfare of the people, stressing that elections should be about delivering good governance, not instigating chaos. “We must stop this culture of politics being equated with violence. The election should be about the people\u2019s choice, not about threats or intimidation.”<\/p>\n
As the election process continued, security forces and election observers were on high alert to ensure law and order were maintained throughout the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also been monitoring the election closely, with calls for all parties to respect the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Edo State has historically seen fierce political rivalries, and the 2024 governorship election is proving to be no different. However, Oshiomhole remains confident that the people of Edo will prioritize peace and democracy over violence. “Elections are about choosing leaders through peaceful means. The people of Edo have a proud history of being politically conscious, and I believe they will not fall for these empty threats coming from Abuja.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has criticized certain politicians based in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for threatening violence in the ongoing Edo State governorship election, describing them as living in a “fool’s paradise.” Oshiomhole made the statement shortly before casting his vote at Iyamoh Primary School, Ward 10 PU1, Etsako West Local Government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-49333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49334,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49333\/revisions\/49334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}