Reaction has trailed the defection story of Edo State councillors to APC yesterday, as the elected Local Government Council Chairmen have distanced themselves from what they described as myriads of lame excuses, charades and a show of shame where some councillors were all received as illegal acting chairmen to mislead the President into buying into their stage-managed crap that Edo Local Government Council Chairmen have defected in support of his 2027 Presidential bid.
The chairmen described the development as a desperate desire of the Governor to seek cheap relevance and undue sympathy to induce influence in the final tribunal judgement that has given him sleepless nights.
The Council Chairmen described the speech of the Governor as empty, even as they said he failed to find lasting solution to the infrastructure, security and economic challenges that are obvious across all local Government Councils in the State under his lethargic watch.
“We wish to inform the general public that those who defected were Councillors without political relevance to deliver their ward. No duly elected local government Council Chairman defected or was present in the gathering where money was shared to Councilors like helpless nursery school play class pupils in need of free lunch. Elected Chairmen wish to distance themselves from the charade and call on the Nigerian media to stop misleading the public with false newspaper headlines that don’t add up to the reality.”
Speaking on behalf of the elected Local Government Council Chairmen, the Chairman of the Association of Edo State Forum of Chief Press Secretaries in the 18 Local Government Councils, Mr Benjamin Atu frowned against the misleading statements of the Governor saying “If those whom the Governor received are the people he depends upon to consolidate his hold on the polity of the state and to deliver Tinubu in 2027, then his hope is a mirage and dead on arrival.
“Local Government Councils have been thrown into darkness and underdevelopment without leadership and without direction since the Governor forced elected Chairmen out of office using political thugs and security agents over three months ago”.
According to them, the State’s resources that were wasted to gather and bribe councillors would have been sufficient to mobilise security agents and grassroots vigilante groups to checkmate the ravaging insecurity across the State, particularly in Edo North, they said.
They maintained that the Governor has the opportunity to redeem his image by restoring elected council Chairmen but has decided to be a victim of his own Gospel. The meeting with factional Councillors is meant to deepen the hardship across the Councils. They advised the Governor to respect the rule of law from the Supreme Court judgement to the Edo High Court judgement on the status of local government chairmen in Nigeria.
“The people of Edo State are not waiting for tribunal judgement but waiting for justice from the fallen behemoth Party”.
Signed,
Benjamin Atu
For, Forum of Edo State Local Government Councils Chief Press Secretaries.
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