The All Progressives Congress (APC) has come under fire for allegedly treating their Edo State governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as a “commodity for trade,” according to recent allegations from the opposition.
In a statement made available to Truthlive news, Rev. Olu Martins, Deputy Director General of Media and Publicity for the Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council, claims that APC’s reluctance to allow Okpebholo to engage with the public reveals their true intentions.
Martins suggests that the party views Okpebholo as a mere tool for financial gain, rather than a capable leader.
Tensions escalated recently when APC reportedly demanded a staggering $1 million from Arise TV for an interview with Okpebholo.
Arise TV had invited Okpebholo to address the people of Edo State through their platform, offering him a chance to communicate directly with voters. However, this demand has been seen as an attempt by APC to keep Okpebholo away from public scrutiny.
Martins argues that APC’s actions demonstrate their desperation to keep Okpebholo out of the public eye, raising serious concerns about his suitability for the governorship.
He further claims that Okpebholo’s lack of experience and understanding of governance makes him a puppet for those who wish to control the state’s treasury from behind the scenes.
The statement reads: “Finally, APC has revealed why they put a mute puppet there as their candidate. They view him as a commodity of trade. And now that they are broke, they have displayed the commodity for sale. APC is getting desperate and aggressive about their dysfunctional candidate. So they have started to reveal their real intentions.
“Anyone that dares to invite their candidate to address Edo people is met with funny or aggressive responses. Today, in their desperation, they asked Arise TV to pay them ($1000,000) a million dollars to interview Monday Okpebholo.
“Arise simply asked Monday Okpebholo to come and speak to Edo people through their medium. Arise is generous enough to offer Okpebholo air space to talk to Edo people. But APC is meeting such generosity with aggressive merchandising!
“This should show Edo people how desperately APC wants to keep Monday Okpebholo away from public engagements and insist on his Purdah! This is very serious! Monday Okpebholo may even be worse than we think. How can a man that other people will ever keep in Purdah be Governor of Edo State? It is clear that Monday Okpebholo is just a commodity for making money; the real Governors that will take charge of Edo State treasury are the ones hiding Monday Okpebholo .
“They want to use Monday to come in for 3rd term to Edo treasury. The man Monday Okpebholo is too ignorant to even know what governance is all about. He can’t understand the budget lines or content. It is enough that he scribbles his initials on the budget documents and these traders are in business as usual. No wonder he is always saying: ” my leaders”, ” my leaders”.
“Edo people must resist and reject this trading with Monday Okpebholo. It is now clear that Okpebholo is an ATM machine to Edo money. Edo people must reject them. We reject the commodity of trade called, Monday Okpebholo.”