Edo Gov’ship poll: Why APC’s Okpebholo triumphed
.PDP kicks, alleges irregularities of the collation process by INEC
.Irregularities very apparent, extremely scandalous -Aziegbemi
.Tinubu, Ganduje congratulate Edo Gov-elect, Okpebholo
By Titus Akhigbe, Tom Okpe, & Ihesiulo Grace
Based on the final results of the Governorship election in Edo State, collated and released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, it showed that Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election against all odds with the overall score of 291,667 votes in 18 Local Government Areas, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 247,274, leaving the Labour Party (LP) with just 22,763 votes.
“That Okpebholo Monday of APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” INEC’s Returning Officer for the poll, Prof Faruk Kuta, said at exactly 09:27 pm, to delightful cheers from APC supporters at the collation centre in Benin City, the state capital on Sunday.
According to observers, Senator Monday Okpebholo of the APC won the election because the PDP was factionalised following the exit of a faction called Legacy Group, controlled by the Zonal vice-chairman (South South) of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih.
Also, the obvious sour relationship between Governor Godwin Obaseki and Oba of Benin did not help matters and it affected the anointed candidate of the governor, Asue Ighodalo, in the election.
It would be recalled that PDP won in 2020 because they were united.
READ ALSO: PDP faults INEC on result collation, alleges massive…
Reacting, an insider, who didn’t want his name in print, said: “Comrade Philip Shaibu, the reinstated deputy governor, is a great mobiliser, and Dan Orbih, our party’s strong man in Edo were with Obaseki. This time around, the PDP was divided. Shaibu and Orbih were with our opponents. And we saw this coming. When Shaibu was impeached after the PDP governorship primaries just because he participated in the process, he ought not to have been treated like that and the party paid this time around.
“I wouldn’t like to say I am surprised at the election result. But I am not. If you want to be emotional, be my guest. But elections are won by rational people.
“You have a Governor scaring the electorate by saying the election is a “Do or die affair”?
“And knowing the almost godlike authority of the Oba of Benin, why would Obaseki have even quarreled with His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II, over the abode of the returned Benin artefacts? They were looted from the Oba’s palace and were the property of the Oba’s direct ancestors. At least, the Oba ought to have the main say over their mainstay.
“Politics is about addition. You try to avoid subtraction. No matter how popular you think you are, if your opponent is practicing addition and you are implementing subtraction, the result of the election is a foregone conclusion, even if you allow social media to mislead you. Remember, there are no polling booths on the Internet. “
However, addressing a press conference in Government House, Benin City, on Sunday, the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council, who doubles as governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri, alleged illegal interruption of collation of Edo State Governorship election results.
Fintiri, flanked by governor of Taraba State, Kefas Agbu, governor of Delta State, Sheriff Obowevriri and host, Obaseki, alleged irregularities of the collation process by INEC.
He said: “The collation process was violently interrupted in several local government areas across the state. In Edo South, local government collation processes were stopped in Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha, and Egor and moved illegally to the State Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin on the instructions of an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in complete breach of the statutory collation process.
“Affected Party Agents and representatives were then ordered to converge on the INEC State Headquarters in Aduwawa, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area for the completion of the collation exercise. Upon arrival, agents of the PDP were not allowed into INEC State Office for the exercise. On the other hand, agents of the APC were allowed unfettered access into the INEC premises to participate in the collation process. This was also in breach of the Electoral Act section on neutrality as well as the rules and regulations published for these elections.
“At about 9pm, senior party officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) accompanied by the police stormed the Etsako West Local Government collation centre and began shooting indiscriminately. As a result of the attack, the council Vice Chairman, Honorable Benji Ojetu was left in critical condition from a shooting injury. Because of this assault, the expected results from Wards 7 and 11 were not delivered. At the INEC state office, a 2km-long garrison barricade was created by the Police to cordon-off access, thereby restricting movement in the area”.
Continuing, the governor of Adamawa State pointed out that “it took the protest of Governor Godwin Obaseki to make an entry into the State INEC office and register the displeasure of the PDP with the irregularities of the collation process.
“At the point of the truncation of the collation exercise, these are the results that have been collated:
Esan Central APC – 8,618, PDP – 10,990; Esan North East APC – 10,648, PDP – 12,522; Esan South East APC – 8,398, PDP – 14,199; Esan West: APC – 12,952, PDP – 11,004; Igueben APC – 5,407, PDP – 8,470; Etsako Central APC – 10 990, PDP – 8,618; Orhionmwon APC – 16,059, PDP: 16,614; Ovia North East APC – 13,225, PDP – 15,311; Ovia South West APC – 10,150, PDP – 10,260; Owan West APC – 12,277, PDP – 11,284; Owan East APC – 19,380, PDP – 14,189; Uhumwonde APC – 8,673, PDP – 9,339.
“We hereby demand for a restoration of the collation process in accordance with the Electoral Act and the INEC rules and regulation for this election.
“Any other illegal and unlawful actions going forward will be a violation of the will of the people and an abuse of the Electoral Act 2022”, Fintiri posited.
Also addressing a press conference in Government House on Sunday, the state chairman of PDP, Hon Tony Aziegbemi, alleged manufactured vote entries and unjust inflation of APC votes by INEC.
His words: “It has come to our attention that the Electoral Officers appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the Edo State Governorship election, made entries that are totally different from the actual results as uploaded on the INEC IREV, thereby unjustly inflating votes in favour of the APC and deducting the votes of the PDP.
“For specifics, please find below the following; A. AKOKO EDO LGA A simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 25,010 votes while 34,847 votes was recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer. While for the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV is 18,620 but 15,865 was returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
“It would interest you that in Ward 9 Akoko Edo LGA, from the 36 Polling Unit results uploaded on the IREV, the total votes obtained by APC is 2,350 while 9104 was entered into the EC8B result for APC. The total votes for PDP is 1359 while 633 was entered in the EC8B. Also, in Ward 6 Akoko Edo LGA, where elections did not hold in Ward 6 Units 12, 17, 15, 18, 14 and 16, results were returned for the said polling units in the Ward Result sheet (EC8B).
“A simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 10,972 votes while 16,760 votes was recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer. While for the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV \s 14,485 but 14,658 was returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer. It would interest you to note that the collation of the Egor LGA was not done at the designated LGA centre but was moved to the INEC State HQ and the PDP agent was not allowed access to be part of the exercise.
“In Etsako West, a simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 29,858 votes while 32,107 votes was recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer. While for the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV is 16,712 but 17,483 was returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
“The above highlighted irregularities which are very apparent are extremely scandalous and a brazen attempt to steal the mandate of the PDP and also a terrible embarrassment to the commission. We therefore demand the immediate re-collation and recomputation of the actual results for the various polling units in the above highlighted Local Government Areas in compliance with the INEC guidelines and regulations which mandates that votes from various units and wards be properly collated”, the state PDP chairman posited.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election, on his victory at the polls.
Senator Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, having defeated other contenders for the position.
President Tinubu commended APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory. He said the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic reengineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians.
He urged Senator Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service. He encouraged him to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development.
President Tinubu also praised other candidates who participated in the election for their contributions to advancing Nigeria’s democracy, saying peaceful political contests, such as the one on Saturday, portray Nigeria as a stable democracy.
The President urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels.
In addition, the president commended the people of Edo State for their orderly and peaceful conduct during the election, underscoring the maturing of Nigeria’s democracy after 25 years.
“I commend the INEC and our security agencies for working round the clock to conduct a successful, peaceful and largely hitch-free exercise.
“INEC has once again demonstrated that it is committed to organising a free and fair election in our country”, President Tinubu said.
Also, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has congratulated Senator Monday Okpebholo on his well-deserved victory at the Edo State Governorship election.
Ganduje in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, said the triumph is a testament to the confidence the good people of Edo State have in the progressive vision and leadership of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led APC administration.
The National Chairman Ganduje conveyed the party’s warmest felicitations to Okpebholo.
He asserted that his victory reflects the trust and hope placed in his leadership, as well as the hard work and resilience of other party members and supporters who ensured a free, fair, and peaceful election.
He said: “With Senator Okpebholo’s leadership, Edo State is poised to witness unprecedented growth, peace, and development that will transform the lives of its citizens.
“We will continue to uphold the values of good governance, transparency, and service to the people, which have been the bedrock of the APC’s vision for Nigeria,” he assured.
He further stated that APC remains committed to supporting his administration and working together to ensure that the vision of a greater Edo State is achieved for the benefit of all.
Ganduje thanked President Bola Tinubu and the Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, under the leadership of the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, for their immense support, stating that “the victory is for all the people of Edo State, and we look forward to a prosperous new chapter for the state.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reacted to visits by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to its state office and collation centre on Sunday.
Obaseki, who stormed INEC’s collation centre unannounced around 2am, was walked out by security agents around 4:10am.
Obaseki was reportedly there to protest alleged anomalies in the collation of results of some Local Government Areas, including his Oredo.
He was, however, told that his presence was not needed there. At about 3 am, a combined team of policemen led by DIG Mba and personnel of the Nigerian Army entered the premises and by 4:10 am, escorted Obaseki out of the premises.
Minutes before Obaseki was led outside by Mba and other policemen, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, told journalists that the governor had no reason at INEC premises.
“He is not a candidate. He has no reason to be here”, Basiru said, describing the governor’s action as an abuse of office.
Earlier, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo was also sent back.
Members of the APC led by Monday Okpebholo’s running mate, Honourable Dennis Idahosa, also led protesters to demand the exit of Governor Obaseki from the premises at about 3:30 am on Sunday.
Reacting to the controversies during a press conference on Sunday, INEC’s National Commissioner & Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the move by Obaseki and others was “uncalled for”.
It said: “We are similarly disturbed by the overnight presence and demonstrations by some political actors and their supporters at our State Head Office ahead of the commencement of final collation. These actions are uncalled for. Nobody should disrupt the process at any stage and no one will be allowed to benefit from lawlessness.”
