Probe Edo APC chair over AK-47 threat, ADC tells police, DSS

• Okpebholo deceiving Tinubu with 2.5m-vote pledge -Imansuangbon

From Tony Osauzo, Benin and** Ndubuisi Orji,** Abuja

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has demanded a probe of Edo State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jarrett Tenebe, over an alleged AK-47 threat, declaring that its supporters would confront intimidation with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) called on the Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invite Tenebe for questioning over his alleged threat against anyone seeking to stop the APC from delivering 2.5 million votes to President Bola Tinubu.

The demand came as ADC chieftain, Kenneth Imansuangbon, dismissed Governor Monday Okpebholo’s pledge to deliver the votes as unrealistic, insisting that growing public dissatisfaction would cost the APC victory in Edo State.

“What we have is not guns. They have said they have AK-47, but we have the people and our PVCs. If they think they can rig the election, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Nigerians will be ready to defend democracy and protect their votes,” Imansuangbon declared.

In a statement by its Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Ologbondiyan, the ADC campaign council condemned the alleged threat alongside a reported attack on party members and destruction of supporters’ vehicles at Gegu in Koton Karfi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

It described the incidents as acts of intimidation and political violence capable of creating an atmosphere of fear and undermining the 2027 general elections.

“We are shocked that a state chairman of a ruling party, Mr. Jarrett Tenebe, can stand before the public and threaten Nigerians with AK-47 rifles if they refuse to vote for his party, the APC.

“This is terrorism, and not politics. This is the height of desperation by a party that has failed Nigerians woefully,” the council stated.

Speaking at an enlarged Edo Central ADC meeting in Ewohimi, Esan South-East Local Government Area, Imansuangbon accused Okpebholo of misleading Tinubu about the ruling party’s electoral strength in the state.

“We want President Tinubu to know that Okpebholo is deceiving him. The 2.5 million votes promised Tinubu are not feasible. Okpebholo will be defeated because the people are with us. Nobody can rig our election,” he said.

The meeting featured the unveiling of the party’s National and State Assembly candidates for the district.

Representing the party’s national leader and former Edo governor, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor, Imansuangbon maintained that Nigerians were yearning for a change of government, arguing that insecurity, economic hardship and decaying infrastructure had weakened support for the APC, particularly in Edo Central.

The ADC campaign council similarly argued that the APC could not legitimately secure 2.5 million votes in Edo through a free, fair and credible electoral process.

It described voters in the state as politically sophisticated and increasingly dissatisfied with hardship and insecurity under the present administration, saying the alleged AK-47 threat reinforced its concern that the ruling party might resort to violence and intimidation to retain power.

The council appealed to the international community, including the United Nations, European Union, African Union, ECOWAS, the United States and other democratic countries, to monitor developments ahead of the elections and prevail on the Federal Government and APC to ensure a peaceful and credible electoral process.

On the reported Kogi attack, it urged security agencies to identify and prosecute those responsible, while asking members of its state chapter to provide information that would assist investigations.

“We call on the members of our Kogi State chapter, particularly in Koton Karfi Local Government, to name everyone they identified in the course of the needless attack,” it stated.

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