The much-anticipated sitting of Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal was marred by allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over gunshots at the premises of the tribunal.
Both parties accused each other of being behind the gunshots which caused pandemonium at the tribunal’s vicinity in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
The drama began on Wednesday morning when a man, wearing a T-shirt, fired shots into the air from a pump action gun, close to the tribunal.
A viral video, which captured the incident, showed passers by scampering for safety.
The shooter was later carried away in white Hilux van.
The election tribunal was sitting to hear petitions by PDP over the outcome of last September’s governorship election won by the APC.
Reacting however to the shooting incident, the acting chairman of APC, Emperor Jarret Tenebe, blamed the opposition PDP for being behind the shooting, describing it as unacceptable.
Tenebe said, “Today’s shooting incident within the venue of the Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin City involving members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a deeply disturbing and unacceptable act of violence.
“The Tribunal is a sacred space where justice is meant to be administered impartially. Any act of violence within its walls undermines the very foundation of our legal system and threatens the safety of all involved.
“Regardless of political affiliation, resorting to violence to resolve disputes is never justifiable. We must all condemn such actions in the strongest possible terms.
“Violence has no place in a civilized society, and those responsible for this heinous act must be brought to justice swiftly and without exception”.
But PDP, in a counter statement, accused the APC of deploying masked thugs to shoot and disrupt the Tribunal proceedings.
The PDP state chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, said the APC is scared of Justice and has continued devious ploh to frustrate the PDP from reclaiming the mandate truly given to the party by Edo people.
“We strongly dissociate ourselves from the shooting incident that occurred today at the venue of the Governorship Election Tribunal in Benin City, the Edo State capital, and want to unequivocally state that this shameful incident is yet another in the series of clandestine efforts by the APC to frustrate the legal process and tarnish the image of our party.
“Why would the PDP attempt to disrupt the only opportunity it has to reclaim the mandate given to it by the people of Edo State during the last governorship election?
“The PDP is aware that its only pathway to justice is through the legal process, so it would be utterly senseless for anyone to suggest that the party would deploy thugs to disrupt this very process and jeopardize its own chances.