9 months ago
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In a dramatic turn of events following the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Edo State, Dennis Idahosa, one of the 11 aspirants, has made a bold move to seek justice, less than 24 hours after Senator Monday Okpebholo was declared the winner.
Idahosa, flanked by a significant number of his supporters, made his grievances known upon his arrival at the APC national headquarters in Abuja around 2:30 pm.
The federal lawmaker from Edo State criticized the re-run election held on Thursday, labeling it a ‘selection’ rather than a legitimate electoral process, contradicting the party’s representation of the event.
This controversy stems from the initial primary on February 17, which resulted in three different winners due to conflicting declarations: Governor Hope Uzodimma announced Idahosa as the winner, Stanley Ugboaja named Okpebholo, and Ojo Babatunde, representing the local government returning officers, declared Anamero Dekeri victorious.
The discord and ensuing public outcry over the disputed primary led the APC’s National Working Committee (NWC) to deem the initial poll inconclusive, setting the stage for the contentious re-run that saw Okpebholo emerge as the party’s flag bearer.
In a determined bid for redress, Idahosa conveyed his intent to challenge the APC’s decision, threatening legal action against the party should it fail to acknowledge his claimed victory.
During a press briefing held at the entrance of the APC secretariat, the aggrieved aspirant revealed he had already lodged a formal protest with the APC governorship Appeal Committee.
Furthermore, Idahosa called upon President Bola Tinubu, urging him to intervene and direct the party’s NWC to rectify what he perceives as a grave injustice.
He said: “I am not here to make trouble. I am a lawmaker but one thing that we want is justice. Today, I might be a young man but it might be the children of NWC members tomorrow. We have to do the right thing, if we continue to do what is wrong as a country, we are not going to move forward.
“So I am calling on Mr. President to call NWC to order. Elections were held on the 17th of February. What they did on the 22nd was just selection. I challenged one of the LGA returning officers to show me a picture of him at the local government headquarters where he collated the results, he was just blabbing. There was nothing because I know that they were in the same hotel in Benin and that’s where they wrote all the results.
“So my fellow party members, I am not here to make trouble. I am only here to seek justice. I have written yesterday to the appeal panel commitee and I know they will do justice. I just want to go through the process, having exhausted the party’s conflict resolution mechanism. I will go further to seek justice in the court of law as I will not allow this to stand.”
An Edo lawyer and chieftain of the party, Bernard Ekun, who accompanied Idahosa told journalists that the NWC was deliberately trying to avoid fielding a viable candidate for the election.
According to him, when something is inconclusive, it invariably means some areas have been identified for primaries to before it can be termed completed.
He said, “The governor who was in charge of the purportedly selection primaries said that it was going to be a fresh election. Between you and I, when you know the issue of INEC, there is supposed to be 21 days notice from INEC for that primary. Nothing of such was done and we are out of time. Are you people saying that the selection process you have done, which you called a fresh election, should be acceptable to us?
“Our demands is that the February 17 primary stands. That is known to law. What they have done is kangaroo selection. What these people have done is that they have sold their responsibility and the excellence in them as reasonable men. They have sold it for a Chinese cusuine. People were in their hotel sleeping. How were they able to get the results? There was no election. We stand on February 17 election because that is the only that is one duly observed within the ambit of the law.”
