With less than a week to the governorship election in Edo State, the Labour Party, on Saturday, called on the Council of Legal Education to come out clean on the propriety behind the admission of Osagie Ize-lyamu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into the Nigerian Law School and his subsequent call to Bar.
Dr. Isaiah Osifo, gubernatorial candidate of the party, at a press conference in Benin City, said “If within the next three days the Council of Legal Education fails, neglect or refuses to offer the explanation, Labour Party will activate the process of getting the information using the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.”
Osifo said the call became necessary following a legal action filed by a lawyer over the failure of Ize-lyamu to inform the management of the Nigerian Law School that he was rusticated for two years for his engagement in secret cult activities.
The party also urged eligible voters in the state to reject the APC candidate over alleged involvement in cultism and money laundering.
According to Osifo, “We are aware of an action filed by a lawyer asking the court to disqualify the APC governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-lyamu, on account of his failure to inform the management of the Nigerian Law School that he was rusticated for two years for his engagement in secret cult activities.
“There is equally an ongoing criminal prosecution against Osagie Ize-Iyamu over money laundering. It is sad to note that a person facing interrogation from a legal action, filed by a lawyer over secret cult-related activities while he was a University student, in addition to his ongoing criminal trial for financial matters is the same person seeking to occupy the exalted office of Governor of Edo State.”
He added: “Labour Party is aware of the civility of issues-based electioneering campaigns. It is important for the public to know and appreciate that the character and antecedent of the candidate are the most important issues to be considered in electoral choice. The character and the antecedent of the candidate are the social tools for measuring the expectation of any aspiring government.
“While we await the quick response of the Council of Legal Education and the judgment of the court over the money laundering, we uphold and emphasise that the APC governorship candidate, Osagie Ize-lyamu is morally disabled and should be rejected by the good people of Edo State,” Osifo noted.
Calling for a peaceful and credible poll in the state, the Labour Party urged “The federal government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, INEC and all agencies responsible for the conduct of elections in Nigeria to be on the side of the people of Edo State by ensuring the conduct of a peaceful, free and fair election.
“Edo people are morally conscious and they should enjoy the right of free choice. Edo people cannot be fooled. Enough is Enough,” Osifo added.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Labour Party(LP) of receiving “heavy bribes” from the PDP to divert attention away from the party’s failings and the incompetence of its candidate, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
This was in a statement released by the APC Media Campaign Council which noted that the party knew of the collaboration going on between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Allied People’s Movement (APM), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Labour Party(LP) due to the bribes Mr Obaseki had paid them.
APC said, “Today, Labour party proved my reports right when they released a statement touching on the image of our candidate, the esteemed Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. We had earlier warned that the governor has plans to rig the election by paying heavy sums of money to submit a doctored lists of party agents belonging to these parties. Now, Labour party came out at a press conference by one fellow of unclear morals, Isaiah Osifo, stating that Pastor Ize-Iyamu and APC are not options for next week Saturday’s election. In a base manner, they made several baseless allegations against our candidate and somehow forgot to tie it to the fact that some PDP members such as its former state chairman, Mr. Dan Orbih and its current state chairman, Mr. Tony Aziegbeni were also suspected for the same issue.”
APC warned that “Let it be known that PDP has tried the same tactic, failed, and given up. They therefore chose to use the rather unknown Labour Party to make these claims. Labour party is so weak that the average person in Edo does not know who their candidate is. They have not bothered to campaign, but are happy to collect peanuts from Mr Obaseki to fulfil his sinister dream, which will not work.”
According to the party, “This is a complete diversion from the campaign to rescue Edo state from the excessively desperate and autocratic Godwin Obaseki and his cohorts. We’ve undertaken to snatch Edo state from the jaws of political vipers, leeches and tax-collectors, but Isaiah Osifo and some other turncoats have decided to lend their voices to the desperado where men of character and nobility unanimously vowed to rescue the state from undemocratic elements.
“This is clearly what the School of Psychology teaches as the Stockholm Syndrome where a victim of an unjust act or crime begins to develop trust and affection for his aggressor. Look at how the party grovels before Mr Obaseki after he gave them a little bit of the money he forcefully took from them, their wives, mothers, fathers and children.”
APC advised Edo people to desist from succumbing to the whims and caprices of a governor who had robbed them continually for four years and was planning to win them back by giving them fractions of what was rightfully theirs.
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