The Edo State Government has refuted claims by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) alleging plans to demolish the Benin Royal Museum.
The government criticized the APC for attempting to politicize the issue and drag the palace of the Oba of Benin into their campaign.
In a statement made available to Truthlive news on Tuesday, Crusoe Osagie, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Projects, dismissed the allegations as false and baseless. He accused the APC and its consultant, Kassim Afegbua, of fabricating the story due to a lack of genuine campaign ideas.
Osagie emphasized that the government holds the palace in high regard and has no plans to demolish the museum, which has not yet been built.
He stated that the government is actively supporting the development of the Benin Royal Museum and the Benin Cultural District, as well as the Museum of West African Arts.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to a fictitious story by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in which they returned to the expired tactic of dragging the palace of the Oba of Benin into politics with an allegation that there are purported plans to demolish the Benin Royal Museum.
“It is regrettable that the APC has found themselves in this sorry situation where they are now hell-bent on sacrificing the hard-won respect, legacy and heritage of the revered place on the altar of political exigencies.
“This should not be a matter for political debate as we hold the palace in high regard. Insinuations about a demolition are figments of the imagination of the consultant to the APC, Kassim Afegbua and the campaign team, who are bereft of ideas on how to sell a deadbeat candidate that does not have the faintest grasp of the idea of governance to Edo people.
“The intentions of the APC are well-known, which is to sow seeds of discord in the minds of Edo people and charge them on a fruitless chase of a non-existent threat against the palace. If there was ever any threat to the palace, it is the machinations of the APC to denigrate the heritage of the people.
“For the records, I will like to state without equivocation that there are no plans to demolish the Benin Royal Museum, which to the best of our knowledge, has not even been built yet. Instead, the government is supporting efforts to develop the museum as part of the development of the Benin Cultural District. This is just as it has extended support for the development of the Museum of West African Arts, Benin in the State.
“We enjoin the general public to disregard the rumour and all antics of the APC to drag the palace into politics in pursuit of their failed campaign to market a hardly literate candidate who failed to pass General Certificate Examination (GCE) at a Special Centre even at the age of 36 years.
“The APC is encouraged to campaign responsibly and tell the people what their vision for development is as is required of them during campaign periods and not this futile effort at a strawman fallacy.”