By Dan Owegie

PENULTIMATE Friday, youths and supporters of both the All Progressives Congress, APC,  and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  clashed at the Benin Airport over the motion moved by Senator Matthew Urhoghide seeking the invocation of Section 143 of the Nigerian Constitution to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to media reports, it took the intervention of the State Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Kokumoa to avert the major fracas  at the airport.

The PDP supporters were said to be  at the airport to give a rousing welcome to Senator Urhoghide for moving the motion for the Senate to begin impeachment proceedings against President  Buhari.This,  in my  opinion, was unnecessary as it was done in bad taste. The Senator should have been allowed to quietly go to his house on return from Abuja.

But the APC supporters who had earlier protested through major streets of Benin City disowning Senator Urhoghide were attracted to the airport  by the provocative activities of the PDP and moved to express their disappointment.

This  is not the first time the PDP will be stirring up the hornet’s nest in Edo. They have a penchant for throwing tantrums at the sitting governor. There is no state in Nigeria where citizens would sit down and start hurling abuses and insults on their governor as the PDP does in Edo State.

Tension was rife as  more supporters besieged the airport either for the APC or the PDP.  Both sides  sang anti-Buhari and anti-PDP songs. The Police Commissioner had to personally stand between the protesters to prevent the turmoil from snowballing into a major catastrophe at the airport. He was not alone. He was there with a retinue of his officers and men, ostensibly acting on a tip-off. The Army and Air Force personnel were also on ground to forestall breakdown of law and order.

The PDP in Edo State had described Governor Godwin Obaseki’s ban on night grazing by Fulani herdsmen as “unimplementable and cosmetic.” It equally said the pronouncement of the ban was “begging the issue and showed clearly that the Governor was not serious about addressing the serious issue of Fulani herdsmen menace.”

A press statement personally signed by the State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, falsely accused the Governor of “effectively turning Edo State into a cattle colony during the day.”

First, every one knows how  pro-active the Edo State Government has been on the issue of herdsmen attacks on farmers in some  parts of the state. He has had cause to ban night grazing in the state and lately banned total grazing for 90 days in Odiguetue and Odighi communities as well as the environs, for which well-meaning Edo people have roundly praised him both at home and in Diaspora. But Chief Orbih chose to mobilise his party men and women to make an issue out of this in February. He openly challenged the Governor thus: “ The main issue was not about night time grazing but about land for cattle colonies.”

In PDP-controlled states in the South-South of Nigeria, how have they handled the issue of herdsmen? In Delta State, a PDP-controlled state, farmers are meant to pay toll to the herdsmen in some communities before they enter their farms. Why has Dan Orbih not offered his consultancy services to his PDP counterpart to address the issue? What about Enugu State, where herdsmen crippled several communities and killed several people? Why has Orbih not helped them with the magic wand to arrest the situation? The herdsmen crisis is a national one and not an Edo State affair. But even at that, the State Government, which includes the State House of Assembly, has consistently played their role to prevent the crisis from degenerating in the state. Orbih needs to show gratitude instead of abusing government everyday. His outburst is capable of undermining the peace in the state and someone needs to call him to order.

Earlier last month, Chief Orbih at a press conference,  asked the Governor to “stop selling state assets,” just as he accused him of  nursing the idea of selling the assets belonging to Edo Line. It was an event where a nine-man committee for grassroots mobilisation in readiness for the 2019 general elections to be chaired by Prophet Ojo Agge was inaugurated. This implies that Orbih and his cohorts have embarked on this marketing of tissues of lies against the government of Edo State because of 2019 general elections.

Chief Orbih alleged sales of state assets, including the Ubiaja Rice Mill, a rubber processing plant in Benin and the Oil Palm Mill in Ekpoma at the Ekpoma Farm settlement, which he said were done in secrecy and without following due process.

The PDP chairman also falsely claimed that “the proposed sale of Edo Line had reached an advanced stage and assured that the sale of Edo Line would be stopped in the same manner Edo people’s pressure stopped the illegal sale of Edo Broadcasting Service.”

These tissues of lies and hate speeches being bandied around by the PDP is capable of throwing the state into turmoil as many citizens are angry about the continued provocative action of the party in flagrant disregard to the laws of the land.

Chief Orbih even shot himself in the foot when he also falsely said “all the foreign trips including that of Malaysia embarked upon by the Governor were to learn how to waste government money in unproductive agric ventures,” whereas Edo State is now a destination of both foreign and local investors. The agriculture and manufacturing sectors are today being bolstered by the presence of  foreign investors wooed by  the Governor to the state. What about the massive development going on in Gelegele to open up the seaport for Edo State to become a business haven just like Lagos? Are Orbih and his cohorts oblivious of these feats? What about the road construction and reactivation going on across the state? What about the UNICEF/EU Water project?

It is important to appreciate the timely intervention of the Edo State Police Commissioner and other security agencies at the airport. Perhaps, it would have snowballed into a major crisis. Since Orbih has chosen to roll out an agenda to shatter the peace of the state, the security agencies need to put him and his cohorts on their watch list as Edo people need to be allowed to enjoy the peace and massive development going on in the state.

Edo PDP’s inordinate political ambition in the state should be closely watched so that it does not degenerate into activities that would undermine security of lives and property of well-meaning citizens of the state.

•Mr. Owegie, a chieftain of the APC, wrote from Benin City, Edo State.