Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
The Results Were Manipulated, Our Mandate Stolen
The foremost opposition party in Nigeria, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Edo State Chapter, has disclosed that they were already celebrating their victory during just conducted Gubernatorial Election held across the state last weekend.
This revelation was made on Wednesday by Olu Martins, the deputy general of the Asue-Ogie Governorship Campaign Council, during a press conference in Benin City, the state capital.
He stated that the Peoples’ Democratic Party candidate was already in the lead with over 45,ooo votes after the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of the 95% of the votes cast during the collation. Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
“We were already jubilating because by the time the result of the election got to 95 per cent, you know where you have won or not and even if the remaining five per cent voted for APC, we would have won the election with over 45,000 votes.
“But when we got to the collation centre, things changed as the police said they were on a mission and that whoever can’t stomach it should leave,” he stated.
Howbeit, Martin, pointed that election was neither between political parties nor between All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) but against the Nigerian Police and the national electoral body (INEC).
He indicated that, after winning buy manipulation, widespread electoral malpractice, All Progressives Congress, APC, is not celebrating their “illegal mandate.” Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
Also, he stressed that the PDP are not ready to congratulate Senator Monday Okpebholo, the governor-elect, because there were hanky panky and shade spotted during the election and collation of the votes which has rendered it not “free and fair,” and noting that the election could be the worst the INEC has ever conducted. Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
“For us, despite what INEC announced, the governorship election contest was not between the PDP and the APC, who has now been announced as the winner.
“But the contestation is between the PDP and the police and INEC; the two of them collude together to rape democracy and declare who they have declared the winner.
“How do you explain that the whole world followed the result on the IREV and saw the result and if they wanted it to end that way, they wouldn’t have introduced the IReV.
“The form EC8 is the most important document in this election because it is the form where the election that took place in over 4000 polling units was imputed and any other form is from the collation centre and what you saw in IReV were results from polling units.
“By 9 pm on Saturday, 95 per cent of the results of over 4000 units were already posted on the IReV and once it is posted, you can begin your calculation and that was what we did in our situation room.
“When the APC saw that they were losing, they moved to Plan B and my problem is not with the APC or whoever it is that wants to take advantage of the porous system. Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
“But my problem is that it is impossible to rig an election or subvert the will of the people without the active connivance of the INEC, who is the umpire of the election and the security agents,” he alleged.
Martin declared that PDP did not have any issue with the security agencies until at the collation centre were policemen were said to have threatened our agents with guns, ordering them not to make any visible attendance at the collation centres while letting APC’s agents in.
He recounted incidents in Ikpoba Okha and Oredo Local Government areas. Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP
“Our director general was denied entry into INEC office but the APC were roaming and dictating how they wanted the election to go. It seems that the president wants a one-party state. The APC captured the INEC and the police.
“We hold the president responsible for the sham that happened in Edo because he said he would give Edo back to APC and he backed it with I am the president and commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The police did what they have done in the defence of the president’s statement.
“Many people have said that we should call and congratulate the winner but we will not do that because the election was not free and fair and observers who came to monitor the situation also have this opinion,” he added.
He then called for calm among the supporters of the party and stated that the party is the evaluating the outcomes of the election to take seek a redress through legal actions.
“We know where the Egor and Oredo results were written and the gap between the APC and the PDP is not much and when you do the deductions from the result from EC8, the people voted for Asue Ighodalo.
“The INEC must tell us the result of this election and we want our people to calm down. We are studying the situation and in a few days our leadership will tell us the line of action,” he concluded
His claims are yet to be proven true as various indigenes of Edo State cited the incumbent Governor’s shortcomings as the major catalysts for the election loss.
Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP Edo Governorship Poll: We Were Already Jubilating — PDP