•Stop denigrating INEC, accept poll results, group tells party
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi, has disclosed that the party had successfully filed a petition against the September 21 governorship election in the state, and expressed confidence that the party would reclaim its stolen mandate.
But an Abuja-based pro-democracy forum, the Initiative for Democratic Advancement and Free Speech, has asked the PDP and its candidate in the Edo election, Asue Ighodalo, to stop casting aspersions on the Independent National Electoral Commission over the outcome of the poll.
Aziegbemi disclosed this while briefing journalists, in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
He noted that the PDP was aware of the devious ploy of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to stall the order given by a competent Court for the PDP to inspect election materials at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Aduwawa, and were tactical, thereby beating the APC to its own game.
The PDP chair said, “We have begun the journey to reclaim the people’s mandate and a petition has been filed before the Edo State Election Tribunal. Against all odds, the petition has been filed as APC’s plan is for us not to successfully file the petition. The mandate given to PDP will be reclaimed.
“We have put our fingers where the problem is and the election tribunal will surely give us our mandate based on overwhelming evidence before them.”
Aziegbemi said while the PDP was busy gathering evidence to pursue its case at the tribunal, the APC and its chairman, Jarret Tenebe, were lying and spreading falsehood to actualise the evil ploy of the APC.
He stated, “As our party was busy gathering evidence for the petition, APC and its chairman, Jarret Tenebe were busy peddling lies. He lied that the PDP is disrupting activities in the INEC office forgetting that the process is in the interest of the PDP. Why should PDP now be the party to disrupt the exercise that is in its favour?
“If APC truly won the September 21st governorship election in Edo State, why are they causing confusion and problems in the INEC office? They lie without thinking it through.
“Tenebe Jarrett and the APC are the ones stealing the people’s phones and the money of POS operators. They were disrupting the process because it is not in their favour. If you won, why fight hard to stop the other person from inspecting the process? Are you stopping the people to see how you won?”
He further noted that, “On the 24th of September 2024, I penned a memo to the National Headquarters of INEC in Abuja. I premised that memo on the provision of the Electoral Acts, section 65 (1C), the powers of INEC to review results after one week of declaration. The reply from INEC will shock you.
“They said in their reply that the section of the Electoral Act is for internal purposes only, not for outsiders or candidates, or party’s use on a declaration already made by returning officers.”
On the release of PDP chieftains arrested before the elections, Aziegbemi said, “Before the election, most of our members were arrested by a special unit of the Nigerian Police from Abuja. It might interest you to note that most of the guys have been released as they paid cumulatively about N64 million and the police said bail is free.”
The Director General of the Edo State PDP Governorship Campaign Council, Mathew Iduoriyekemwen, said, “Democracy gives us the constitutional right to vote for who will lead us and that constitutional right can’t be denied Edo people; that is why we have taken steps to pursue our case to a logical conclusion.”
Meanwhile, the Initiative for Democratic Advancement and Free Speech, in a statement by its Executive Director, Patrick Osaigbovo, advised the PDP and its candidate to accept the outcome of the election to avoid further embarrassment in courts.
The group noted that it was unfortunate that the main plank of the PDP and its candidate was on the functionality or otherwise of the results viewing portal of INEC.
Osaigbovo lamented that since the election, the PDP had increased its onslaught on INEC, security agencies and others.
“Such onslaughts are a carryover of its pre-election strategy of using crass propaganda to attempt to intimidate state institutions and pull a wool over the faces of the electorate,” he stated.
Reacting, the Deputy Director-General, Media to the PDP Campaign Council, Reverend Olu Martins, described the claims as baseless.
He said the claims couldn’t be substantiated by those alleging.
“The election observers are not new guys in the system. They have been observing election processes. We should improve our electoral system. Many of the observers concluded that the processes were free and fair at the units,” he said.
