Former presidential candidate Peter Obi, ex-National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and several African Democratic Congress leaders were allegedly attacked by suspected thugs in Edo State on Tuesday.
Dr Yunusa Tanko, Obi’s former campaign spokesman and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, said in a statement from Abuja that the assailants targeted them during political activities surrounding the formal declaration of Olumide Akpata into the ADC.
According to the statement, “armed individuals followed us from the ADC Secretariat to the residence of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. They shot at the gate and destroyed several vehicles in what appears to be a survived assassination attempt on our lives. Democracy is in danger.”
Photos and videos shared by Tanko showed multiple SUV windscreens smashed and Odigie-Oyegun’s gate riddled with bullets. The attack has heightened concerns over political tensions and the safety of political actors in the state.
The incident occurred a day after the ADC candidate in the Abuja Municipal Area Council chairmanship election, Dr Moses Paul, and the Obidient Movement rejected the February 21 election results, alleging irregularities. INEC had declared Christopher Maikalangu of the APC the winner with 40,295 votes, while Paul received 12,109 and the PDP candidate 3,398. Paul accused INEC of voter suppression, result manipulation, intimidation, and vote buying across multiple wards, adding to the charged political climate in Edo and beyond.