Amid mounting frustrations over restricted access to campaign funds, key figures in the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have reportedly travelled to the United States in a bid to recover substantial personal wealth.
Jarret Tenebe, the state APC chairman, and former Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu are reportedly seeking to retrieve funds for election purposes.
Both Tenebe and Shaibu have faced accusations of corruption: Shaibu for alleged embezzlement during his tenure as Deputy Governor and Tenebe for oil theft.
The discontent stems from the perceived authoritarian stance of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the former APC gubernatorial candidate.
Sources claim that Ize-Iyamu has been blocking access to campaign funds, prompting Tenebe and Shaibu to make moves to assert control within the party.
Their trip to the U.S. is reportedly aimed at securing their financial resources, which they intend to use to challenge Ize-Iyamu’s leadership and shift the balance of power within the party.
Further complicating the situation, Ize-Iyamu is allegedly trying to shield the party’s candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo from the influence of Tenebe and Shaibu, whom he views as a threat to his control over the party and campaign strategy.
Meanwhile, reliable sources have raised serious concerns about potential electoral violence in Edo State’s Ovia South West Local Government Area ahead of the election.
According to information being circulated, the House of Representatives member representing Ovia Federal Constituency is allegedly planning to provide fake Nigerian Army uniforms to his loyalists.
Residents say the intent is to use the impersonators to incite violence and disrupt the electoral process in the riverine areas of Ovia South West ahead of the guber poll.
