#EdoDecides2024: Why police arrested PDP members – Oshiomhole

Mr Oshiomhole said the police had to filter the system so that the will of the majority of the people who want democracy can prevail.

Edo North Senator Adams Oshiomhole has given reasons why the police arrested members of the opposition parties in Edo State ahead of the ongoing governorship election.

Governor Godwin Obaseki had accused the police of bias by arresting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the reason the party opted out of signing a peace accord, committing political parties and their candidates to a violence-free election.

Mr Obaseki had also predicted a “very violent” election and later said the election will be a “do or die affair.”

Addressing reporters in a video posted by TVC on Facebook, Mr Oshiomhole, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the system had to be filtered to ensure that those who want to undermine democracy are dealt with so that the will of the majority of the people could prevail.

“The essence is that you know that some people said the election will not take place and that it will be do or die,” Mr Oshiomhole said, alluding to Mr Obaseki.

“So whatever has to be done to put those guys who want to disrupt a peaceful election, now these guys are here peacefully, and if they find somebody planning somewhere to come and hijack this outcome, it makes sense to prevent him from doing so.

“We won’t let one person to veto what hundreds of thousands of people are doing. For me that is it, we must protect the system. The people want democracy, they don’t want dictatorship, including civilian dictatorship. Anyone whothrough the instrument of gun or other violence means prevents people from voting with a view to falsify outcomes in his favour.”

Hunger not justification for vote buying, selling

Amidst the arrest of vote-buyers by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Oshiomhole said hunger is not a justification for buying and selling of votes.

“Nobody is taking money from anybody. And if you listen to some of them in their languages they are saying “let’s vote we are hungry so that we can begin to go and find something to eat,” he said, pointing his finger at the queue.

“That’s for me in my interpretation, hunger is not a justification for vote buying or selling. Actually if there are no sellers there will be no buyer,” the senator said.

Asked if he believes there was no vote buying, Mr Oshiomhole said if there was (at his polling unit), operatives of the anti-graft agency would have arrested them.

“You can see it. I think I have seen some EFCC people around, ask them if they have found any because they are trained to sniff around. Look at how peaceful the queue is, people vote and go. You can see.

“Also, note that for every one man that is voting we have about five women which is why we also say during the campaign that no woman no nation, no woman no democracy.

“Those who talk about the economy are idle commentators; whether you are hungry, happy or not, it is the more reason why you should exercise your right to dismiss the government you don’t want and hire the one you want.

“So those who tried to rationalise bad behaviour by reference to the economy that is why people behave, no, bad conduct is a bad conduct, poverty is not synonymous with madness,” he said.