The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declined to sign the peace accord for the Edo State Governorship election scheduled for September 21, according to former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar.
“I met the governor yesterday and he told me the PDP are not going to sign this peace accord,” Abubakar said at the venue of the signing of the peace accord in Benin.
“They had made some observations and I was expecting the chairman of the PDP to come and make that statement, having waited for him this long he chose to announce that the PDP said they are not going to sign and they have got some conditionalities.”
Abubakar revealed that the PDP has set certain conditions that must be met before they will sign the peace accord. “They said that after these conditionalities have been met, they will come to Abuja and sign,” he added.
Governor Godwin Obaseki had hinted at this possibility on Wednesday when he met with members of the National Peace Committee. “My party, the PDP, might not sign the accord,” he said.
Despite the PDP’s refusal, other parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Mr. Monday Okpebholo, and the Labour Party’s candidate, Olumide Akpata, signed the accord.
The PDP chairman in the state was not present to provide further details on why the party refused to sign the accord.