There was a mild drama in Edo State on Thursday after
the All Progressive Congress (APC) announced the successful reclamation of the
party’s secretariat, which had been reportedly seized by the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) four years prior.
The Chairman of the APC in Edo
State, Jarrett Tenebe , stated in a speech
delivered shortly after the party’s acquisition of the secretariat that the
property legitimately belongs to the APC.
He noted that the party had extended the lease for an
additional seven years before the PDP, which, allegedly with the assistance of
the then Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, forcibly seized it from them.
The caretaker committee chairman of the PDP, Anthony
Aziegbemi, along with the Speaker of the State House of Assembly,
Blessing Agbebaku, were present at the secretariat when the APC reasserted
control over the secretariat located at 59 Airport Road, Benin City.
Speaking further, Tenebe stated that reclaiming the
secretariat from the PDP was one of his commitments upon assuming the role of
State Acting Chairman.
Additionally, he mentioned that another key promise
was to secure victory for the party in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
“About four years ago, APC made a frantic effort to
extend the rent of this particular building, which has always been the office
of the APC. If you search on Google, you will discover that this secretariat
still reads “APC’s office,”Tenebe said.
“The party in the state approached the national office
to arrange so that we will be able to pay for more years for the rent of this
facility. The national obliged us and sent us money to renew it for 7 years.
“The Governor then, Mr Godwin Obaseki, decamped to PDP
and in a military way, they took us out of this secretariat. Destroyed all our
properties, took our vehicles and drove us out of this place.
“I came into the office with a commitment to reclaim
the state and redress all the wrongs done by the PDP and Godwin Obaseki.
“The day I became the chairman of the party in the
state, I made two promises to our party faithful to make sure that APC takes
over the state and to ensure that all the properties taken from the APC are
returned to them.
“Some few months ago, there was a governorship
election in this state and everybody can attest to it that Senator Monday
Okpebholo emerged as the governor of the state, fulfilling one of the promises
I made to our party faithful.
“Today is the happiest day of my life, that I am
fulfilling the second promise I made to my party to make sure that all the
properties taken from APC are returned. That is why we are here today. To take
over the secretariat that was forcefully taken from us.”
He said the party would remodel the building into its
official pattern, just as he vowed to resist any attempt by any group or vested
interest to displace them from the property or any of their other properties.
“Today, we have taken over this secretariat. It
belongs to us now, we are going to allocate offices today. We have also called
the painters to repaint this place to APC color today, because this place
rightfully belongs to us.
“We are ready to resist anybody that will try to make
any noise or try to do anything with everything that we have,”Channels
Television quoted the APC chieftain to have said.
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