Edo Election may result in bloodshed, Tony Momoh says

Prince Tony Momoh, a former minister of information, said on Thursday that the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State may result in bloodshed if the political gladiators decide to em­ploy all manners of uncon­ventional tactics to achieve their objectives.

Momoh, one of the national leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), however, said recent developments in the state were not unusual given the fact that electioneering activ­ities were in top gear while the political parties were try­ing to outdo one another.

“What is happening in Edo State is what usually happens in any other state where there is pending elec­tion in politics.

“They are just playing pol­itics. Part of playing politics is ignoring the rule of law. All is fair in war, according to the laws of competition.

“Competition can be car­ried to an extent that it be­comes war. The issue is those who are igniting the war do not know how it will end.

“As a monitor of gover­nance, I know that where you have competition, the outcome is not necessarily palatable.

“In Edo State, if we are not careful, there is going to be bloodshed. Like I said, in a competition, people use all the weapons. All is fair in war; use the weapons that you have to win.

“If you look at the war in the North-East, Boko Haram is using dangerous weap­ons against soldiers, some­thing that shouldn’t be used against human beings. That goes to show you that all is fair in war.

“I am a member of the APC and I want my party to win but when it comes to con­flict analysis, I say it as it is.

“When I said when two elephants fight the grass suf­fers, I do not foresee that even the two elephants will be crip­pled. Look at what happened in Edo State.”

Also speaking on the ac­tions of the 17 elected law­makers led by Victor Edoror, Momoh said any action taken by the lawmakers would not be binding on Governor God­win Obaseki.

“From the legal point of view, people were elect­ed and yet to be sworn in. They are supposed to attend parliamentary meetings; if they did not attend sitting at all, automatically their seat lapses.

“You will see that the peo­ple who are being sworn in have no business being sworn in legally because without any other analysis, having looked at the days they were out of parliament without be­ing sworn in, their seat has lapsed. So, you cannot have people who are not sworn in impeaching anybody?

“Whatever decision they take, will it be binding on the governor? The governor will not obey any law that they claim they are making because it is not a legitimate body. That is what they will say.” he concluded.