BY  SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN—THERE was anxiety, yesterday, at the premises of the Edo State House of Assembly, Benin City, following sporadic gunshots fired by a police officer attached to one of the lawmakers.

Tension heightened at the Assembly following the resignation from the All Progressives Congress, APC, of the members loyal to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu last Monday. Four of the lawmakers are loyal to the group.

Meanwhile, the party has accused Pastor Ize-Iyamu of having a “pathological fixation” on becoming the governor of the state, no matter what it took.

Interim state Chairman of the party, Chief Osaro Idah, in a statement, reacting to the resignation of Ize-Iyamu, said that while the party’s congresses were still in progress and not yet concluded, Ize-Iyamu who is a pastor and a few of his friends were already protesting a process which was still ongoing and yet to be concluded.

According to the statement, “Ize-Iyamu’s resignation from APC will not in any way affect the fortunes of the party, rather, the party will consolidate on growing its stature in the state.

“Leaders of APC in Edo State met May 6, 2014 to review the recent development in the political space in the state, in particular, the action of Ize-Iyamu and a handful of his friends who have resigned their membership of APC.

“This development is directly related to actions arising from the long-planned and all-consuming pathological fixation of Ize-Iyamu of becoming the next governor of Edo State without regard for truly building the party and respect for established rules and regulations. It is no wonder that after giving a seven-day ultimatum, within a couple of days, the Pastor and his friends were in Abuja holding meetings with leaders of the opposition party from this state, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP national leaders and the President of the country, which in itself is nothing short of anti-party activity.

“We note that contestations on issues of party registration,congresses and even primaries are not peculiar to APC in Edo State, but to party politics in general, especially in emerging democracies.

“We state categorically that the APC has well-established structures, mechanisms and processes to redress grievances of all aggrieved party members, it is regrettable that Ize-Iyamu and his friends have not deemed it fit to avail themselves of this opportunity. It is instructive to note that the congresses are still in progress when they threatened to leave the party.”