IGP orders suspension of APC rally in Benin – TheNigerialawyer

* We cannot guarantee security – Shaibu

The Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, has directed
the suspension of All Progressives Congress (APC) rally scheduled
for Benin on Friday to welcome former gubernatorial candidate of
the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who
is planning to defect with his followers to the APC.

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, told reporters
at a press conference in Abuja that the IGP had communicated the
order to him in a letter, saying the police chief was told that the
security of attendees coming for the rally could not be
guaranteed.

According to the Deputy Governor, who said the rally was a mere
disguise to disrupt public peace, he received the letter suspending
the rally at about 5 pm at the Police Headquarters in Abuja.

He expressed regret that the National Chairman of the APC, Adams
Oshiomhole, was leading the campaign to great division within the
party.

He said Oshiomhole, who has been suspended from the party in the
state, has no say in decisions taken in the state, insisting
Governor Godwin Obaseki, as state party leader, is the only one
authorized to do so according to the party constitution.

The IGP had earlier granted permission to the Edo State APC to
hold its mega rally to receive Ize-Iyamu and over 30,000 PDP
members into the state.

Obaseki had said that he was not aware of any APC rally in the
state, just as the purportedly suspended state chairman Anselm
Ojezua said neither the state governor nor other leaders of the
party were aware of the rally, urging members of the APC in the
state not to have anything to do with the event.