Edo govt debunks claims Obaseki met with Akwa Ibom REC

The Edo State Government on Monday said it was not true that the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki held a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini in Benin, the state capital.

The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, made the denial in a statement in Benin on Monday, advising the All Progressive Congress (APC) to stop its endless vilification of critical democratic institutions in the country.

The statement read in part: “In its latest attack on INEC, the APC concocted a story that INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, met with Governor Godwin Obaseki in Benin City. Clearly, the APC is taking its frustration, resulting from its low public rating, out on everyone and anyone that is not ready to do its bidding.

“There was no meeting of any kind between Governor Obaseki and Mike Igini, the INEC REC.

“After a cursory look at the newspapers, one would think that the forthcoming election in Edo State is between the APC and the rest of the world, because the party has vilified and misrepresented the judiciary, INEC, the Benin Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture; royal and notable families in Edo State as well as traditional institutions, like a loose cannon.”

Osagie called on APC’s gubernatorial candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to adopt conventional means in his desperation to shore up his image instead of casting aspersions on the nation’s important democratic institutions.