The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has described as untrue reports that the convoy of its governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo was involved in an accident which claimed four lives.
According to the party, the story was taken from the political angle of the government of Edo State.
A statement by the Director of Media, Edo State APC Governorship Campaign Council, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said “it is deceitful, misrepresentative, wrong-headed, spitefully contrived and utterly untrue and a crippling travesty of what occurred.”
Afegbua said, “First, the APC convoy did not crush five to death…A reckless and seemingly drunken driver rammed into one of the vehicles in our convoy, shortly after that driver overtook one other vehicle.
“He obviously lost control, and left to fate, crashed into our vehicle. It was a fatal one, sadly. At the scene of the incident, some officers of the Road Safety who came from nearby, confirmed to us that the driver of that car was reckless. They reported that they had tried unsuccessfully, to slowdown the vehicle as it was over-speeding, before it crashed.
“On inspection, they concluded that the passengers in that vehicle must have been under the influence of alcohol; bottles of alcoholic drinks were seen inside the vehicle. It was the victims vehicle that rammed into one of our vehicles; it was not a head-on collusion. The driver was reckless and over speeding, according to the men of the Road Safety Corps.
“That said, even though the victims were the cause of the accident, our candidate insisted that we took them to the hospital in company of the Road Safety Officers. That was what we did, before we left the hospital for Benin.
“In trying to play politics with the lives of accident victims, he said the Edo State government sat down, concocted a self serving story, and sent it to many media houses.
“Accidents are so-called because of their very nature- unfortunate, unpremeditated, unexpected. It could have been anybody. To conclude that an accident has “blighted” our campaign is the height of journalistic partisanship; and they were shamed by day’s end.
“We condemn, in its entirety, this odious report, poised to confuse, misinform and mislead the public for selfish motives. And we demand an apology.
“We saw that Asue Ighodalo +PDP Candidate) quickly rushed to one of the victims house to condole with the family, in a bid to score cheap political points. We stand far away from such politicisation of peoples lives, and gruesome treasure hunt.
“We wholeheartedly and deeply condole with the families of the departed, and make haste to say that we will never play politics with the lives of Edo people or anyone else-we truly sympathize with their families. While some other politicians like Asue Ighodalo may in desperation, find it profitable now, to even visit the toilet, to sympathise with someone trying to defecate, that is not our style.
“The good people of Edo can rely on the APC to deliver on our campaign promises, as we recognize that we are all one. And the emotional intelligence and empathy of our candidate are credentials that stand him out in this election.”
Friday Olokor
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