Edo 2015: Ihonbvere’s, senator’s supporters clash

SUPPORTERS of the senator representing Edo North in the Senate, Senator Domingo Obende, and those of the Secretary to Edo State Government (SSG), Prof.Julius Ihonvbere, are engaged in war of words ahead of the 2015 National Assembly elections in the state. Ihonvbere, from Owan axis, is seeking the senatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo North, a move that has pitched him against his bosom friend, Obende, who is the incumbent senator in the area. Trouble started during the ward and local government congresses in the state as supporters of Obande, seeking re-election, accused Ihonvbere of using government machinery to cause crisis in the APC in Edo North. But a statement from the Ihonvbere Foundation countered the allegation, accusing the senator of using his supporters to disrupt the congresses in Owan West and Akoko Edo Local Government Councils of the state. “Prof is a thorough politician and knows when to separate issues of governance from his personal ambition. Government will not approve fraudulent duty tour allowances (DTAs) for anybody. If the senator and his group have evidence of his opportunistic, infantile, mischievous, provocative, distractive and desperate allegation, he should produce it,” the statement said. “These are signs of a confused campaign with little grounding anywhere in Afenmailand resorting to smear campaign. After insulting Etsako people, the next is Ihonvbere. We wonder who the next target for denigration would be. People who do not understand how government works should not depend on rumours or invented politics of bitterness”.