…Elders condemn the insults, call them “childish, unwarranted and unacceptable behaviour”
By Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu
As expected, the Labour Party, LP, candidate’s supporters in the Edo State September gubernatorial election have since been enraptured in all social media platforms insulting the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare II.
Mr Olumide Akpata, the embattled candidate, paid the Palace a courtesy visit with the 2023 LP’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi. In a bid to make a cheap political statement and score same, Akpata resorted to lying that he is a son of the Palace. Not being comfortable by the untruth, the Oba countered him respectfully. In a video that has since gone viral, the Oba countered him without mincing words. He said he had to verify from his Palace chiefs to assertain if Akpata’s claim was right or wrong, and he was told he has no direct or distance link with the Palace to merit being called a son of the Palace.
In their usual violent approach, the correction of the erroreous claim did not go down well with some of Akpata’s few supporters, and on that basis, they verbally went insulting the Oba through various social media platforms.
In a swift reaction to the ugly trend, a group of elders in Edo State condemned those supporters in very strong terms. They called the attack on the Oba as ”unwarranted barrage of insults and abuses”.
The elders, under the umbrella of the Edo Social-Cultural Advancement and Good Governance Initiative, expressed shock and disappointment at what they described as “childish, unwarranted and unacceptable behaviour” of some of Akpata’s supporters across social media platforms.
In their press statement, the spokesman of the Elders’ group, Comrade Melvin Irabor, said the Oba was very correct for correcting Akpata’s erroneous claim to be a ”son of the palace”.
“Our Oba was not out of place in correcting the erroneous remarks and insinuations by the Labour Party candidate, Bar. Olumide Akpata, for claiming to be the “son of the Palace”,” Irabor said.
He noted that they were inundated with a “barrage of abuses” on the revered Oba of Benin by Akpata’s supporters on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Irabor went on to read some of the “disappointing comments” including one by a user who described the Oba as a ”useless ruler,” and another who suggested that the Oba would have “warmly received” Akpata if he had brought “money full of ‘Ghana must go.’
The group emphasized that the Oba of Benin, as the “mouthpiece of the gods and the revered royal father of the kingdom,” has a responsibility to stay apolitical and correct any candidate making “erroneous remarks and insinuations.”
“Every candidate contesting in this election has the support and blessings of our Oba. He is the father of all and he wishes every one of them well,” Irabor stated.
The elders warned the Labour Party supporters to desist from hurling insults on the Oba, stating that such actions would be considered an “affront on the Palace.”
They called on all political parties to conduct their campaigns in a “democratic manner and keep the campaign issues-based.”
