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One of the candidates declared winner in last Saturday’s parallel governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has disclosed that contrary to claims by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who announced that Dennis Idahosa won the contest by 40,000 votes, only 24,000 members of the party were accredited to vote during the exercise.
This was revealed as the Senator has written to the Appeal Committee of the APC to issue him a certificate of return, having emerged winner in the contest, with over 12,000, out of the 24,000 accredited voters.
The Edo Central lawmaker in the Senate, in the letter addressed to the appeal panel, explained how the Elections Committee constituted by the National Working Committee of APC, led by the Chief State Electoral Officer/Returning Officer, Stanley Ugboaja, successfully conducted the polls, where 12 aspirants competed.
He said the results announced by Governor Uzodimma were not a true reflection of what happened, as confirmed by the returning officer.
While appealing to the Committee, Senator Okpebholo said, “Having satisfied the conditions spelt out, I should be duly recognized as the governorship candidate of the APC in Edo State.
“My humble appeal to your respected committee is to look at the facts that I have presented and affirm them as cogent, and verifiable, apply the relevant provisions of the law guiding our primary elections and uphold the result collated, signed and announced by the, and proceed with the official process by issuing me the Certificate of Declaration as the winner of the 2024 Edo State Gubernatorial Primary Election.
“I have implicit confidence in the integrity of your committee to uphold the rule of law, fairness, equity, justice and regards to due process of the law, which are the hallmarks of democratic governance driven by internal party democracy.”
The lawmaker added, “The final tally of the result as duly declared by the State Chief Electoral Officer/Returning Officer showed that I scored 12,145 (Twelve Thousand One Hundred and Forty Five) votes to defeat my closest opponent, Honourable Dennis Idahosa, who scored 5,536 (Five Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Six) votes. The result as handed over to me by Dr. Stanley Ugboaja the Chief Electoral Officer/Returning Officer duly appointed by the party are hereto attached.
“Despite the free, fair and credible process which preceded my being declared the winner of the primary election, information has reached me that Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee for the primary election who was not mandated to function as the Chief Electoral Officer/Returning Officer for the election, has declared Honourable Dennis Idahosa as the winner of the election claiming to be acting on the fictitious result received from one Mr. Charity Amayanvbo, a known political associate of my defeated opponent.
“Mr. Amayanvbo is not a party official and was never appointed to collate results on behalf of the party. Rather, the party’s collation officials for the election are well known and published in a release signed by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Mohammad Argungu.
“A quick look at the fictitious result declared by Governor Uzodimma will demonstrate how untenable the declaration is. For instance, out of the about 73,000 (Seventy Three Thousand) registered party members, about 24,000 (Twenty Four Thousand) were accredited to vote. Yet, Governor Uzodimma declared that Honourable Idahosa scored 40,000 (Forty Thousand) votes.
“It is most unfortunate that Hope Uzodimma failed woefully to work within reasons and rationality and consequently exposed our great party to ridicule and opprobrium by releasing fictitious figures in an election that he failed, refused and neglected to even visit the designated collation centre throughout the exercise.
“Therefore, the purported result he announced was neither a product nor consequentiality whatsoever, of Edo State Governorship Primary Election that held in Edo State, on 17th February 2024, for which the National Working Committee had constituted an Election Committee led by Dr. Ugboaja as State Chief Returning Officer with 18 LGA Election Returning Officers who performed a most credible assignment for which I and the majority of our party members in Edo State are eternally grateful.
“It is noteworthy that prior to my being declared the winner of the primary election, my defeated opponent, Honourable Idahosa, had tried to disrupt the peaceful collation of the result through his sponsored thugs who violently invaded the Collation Centre and attacked the officials of the party, INEC officials, and members of the press covering the collation process.
“Thankfully, the State Police Command led by the Commissioner of Police promptly intervened to repel the violent attack. This enabled the collation process to continue until the final tally and declaration of the result with me announced as the winner.”
No elections held anywhere in Edo State, Prof. Osunbor kicks, berates INEC REC
However, a former governor and front runner in the September 21 Edo State governorship election, Professor Oserheimen Osunbor has declared that the press statement credited to the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner of the state, Anugbum Onuoha on the purported conduct of the APC primary elections is a clear indication that there were no primaries anywhere in the state.
Osunbor who was at the Buhari House national secretariat of the party on Tuesday to submit a petition to the National Working Committee also said the party told them ( aspirants) that they were going in for direct primaries but unfortunately, there was nowhere in the Wards where election was held.
“I was at my Ward with the delegates waiting for the election that was never held only for some people who claimed they were returning officers to announce what they called the result. I had to address the delegates in my Ward.
“APC settled for the direct primaries and we were assured that both the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act must be obeyed to the letter but it’s a shame that what happened on Saturday in a ruling party is a blatant neglect of the rule of law, even our party laws and the country’s.”
Osunbor argued that there is nowhere in the history of party primaries that direct primary elections are held in hotels.
“The INEC REC only succeeded in ridiculing both himself and INEC by stating that he monitored the primaries held in a hotel whereas the delegates and aspirants were waiting endlessly at the Wards. His statement was not only an indictment on the APC and INEC but a confirmation that the party has not learnt any lesson from the last actions that cost it the governorship seat of the state in the last election.
“I just met with the Edo governorship appeal panel situated here in the APC National Secretariat.
“Governorship election is a national matter, it’s a matter for the National Working Committee, and it’s not a state election.
“So everything concerning this process has to emanate from here, and has to be done from the National Secretariat of APC.
“The true position is that there was no primary election and I am sure you know, you have your correspondents in Edo State, and you know that there was no primary election in Edo State and that is the truth.
“There was no primary election conducted anywhere in Edo State, and there is a video which has gone viral of me addressing people in my ward, at the designated point in my ward, we were there, up to about three o’clock and soon after I left the place and went home, I saw somebody declaring result in my local government when there was nobody that came to my local government.
“And yet I was seeing on television, somebody said to be a returning officer declaring the result of a primary election that never took place at all.
“The REC of Edo State’s address to the media really tells you the fact, the truth that no primary election took place in Edo State, primary elections don’t take place in the hotel, primary elections take place at the designated points in each of the 192 wards of Edo state.
“I have seen the statement credited to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, that the primary he witnessed was the one that took place in the hotel in Benin.
“You are enlightened gentlemen of the press, is that how they conduct direct primary elections? So that is self-admission that direct primaries were not conducted in accordance with the law, the guidelines, the APC constitution, the Electoral Act.
“What you saw was not conducted in accordance with the provisions of those relevant laws or statutes because as confirmed by the REC that the only primary election he witnessed was the one that took place in the hotel in Benin City, that is a self-indictment of the entire process,” he said.
APC leaders pass vote of confidence in acting chairman, others
In another development, the State Working Committee of the Edo APC has passed a vote of confidence in its acting Chairman, Jarret Tenebe; Secretary, Lawrence Okah; and Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae.
A statement by the party reads, “In a meeting of the members of the State Working Committee held this 20th day of February 2024, a vote of implicit confidence was passed in the acting state chairman, Jarret Tenebe, the State secretary, Lawrence Okah, and the State Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae, due to the excellent ways they have piloted the affairs of the party, particularly at this auspicious time of our political evolution.
“The SWC has enjoined them not to relent in their efforts to ensure that justice, equity and fair play which is the hallmark of our great party is robustly upheld at all times regardless of any undue pressure from any quarter.
“The SWC of our party uses this medium to thank the teeming members of our party for their calmness in spite of the unprovoked attacks on them. At the end of the day, the peace that we hitherto enjoy in our party shall be restored.”
According to Uwadiae, the suspension of the Vice chairman of Edo Central, Francis Inegbineki was revisited and members agreed that having waited for the local government exco that was directed to invite him for interrogation and possibly for him to defend himself in line with the principles of justice and nothing was forthcoming, the SWC resolved to veto the suspension and reinstate Francis Inegbeniki to his position as the vice chairman of APC, Edo Central Senatorial District.
The vote of confidence may not be unconnected with the crises that came up after the party’s primary election on Saturday which had three aspirants claiming victory.
The Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the primary, Governor Hope Uzodimma announced Dennis Idahosa as the winner while Returning Officer, Stanley Ugboaja who started the announcement of the results at Lushville Hotel finished it at Pastor Osagie Iyamu’s residence and declared Monday Okpebholo as the winner.
Ize-Iyamu was one of the three aspirants who pulled out of the race.
Also, Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to be representing the Returning Officers in all the Local Governments declared Anamero Dekeri as the winner of the election.
