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JUST IN: Protest rocks APC secretariat as Idahosa threatens court action
Dennis Idahosa, one of the 11 finalists who lost the All Progressives Congress governorship primary in Edo State, arrived in the party's national headquarters less than twenty-four hours after Senator Monday Okpebholo was proclaimed the winner, demanding justice.
Along with a throng of his followers, Idahosa arrived at the party secretariat at roughly 2:30 pm. He referred to Thursday's rerun election as a "selection" rather than the "electoral" process that the ruling party wanted everyone to think it was.
The contentious first primary on February 17 produced three winners, including the federal member from Edo. However, the contest was later ruled to be unresolved.
Idahosa was declared the winner by then-primary election committee chairman Governor Hope Uzodimma, while the returning officer, Stanley Ugboaja, declared Okpebholo as winner.
Ojo Babatunde, a man claiming to speak for all local government returning authorities, also announced Anamero Dekeri as the election's victor in other places.
Due to the public uproar over the results of the shadow election, the APC's National Working Committee was forced to declare the vote inconclusive. This decision opened the door for last Thursday's rerun election, which saw Okpebholo emerge victorious.
Idahosa vowed to take the APC to court if the party did not return his mandate while speaking to reporters on Saturday at the secretariat's main gate.
The legislator further pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to summon the APC NWC to order, telling reporters that he had sent a protest letter to the APC governorship Appeal Committee.
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.
Thus, I'm requesting that Mr. President bring the NWC to order. A set of elections was conducted on February 17. On the 22nd, they merely made a selection. One of the LGA returning officers was blabbering when I challenged him to show me a photo of him at the local government offices where he compiled the results. Nothing because, as far as I know, all of the findings were written at the same Benin hotel where they were staying.
"Therefore, partygoers, I'm not here to cause trouble. All I want to do is get justice. I believe the appeal panel committee will do justice because I wrote to them yesterday. All I want to do is proceed with the procedure, 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.
He claims that when something is unclear, it always signifies that some areas need to be discovered for primary research before it can be considered finished.
"There will be a new election," the governor, who oversaw the ostensibly selection primaries, declared. Between us, INEC is required to give you a 21-day notice for that primary once you are aware of the matter. We've run out of time, and nothing of the sort was done. Are you folks suggesting that we should accept the selection procedure you conducted, which you referred to as a new election?
"We demand that the primary on February 17 remain in place. The law is aware of that. They have selected kangaroos, that's what. These individuals have sold their sense of accountability and their superiority as sensible guys. It was sold to a Chinese custodian. People were sleeping in their motel. How did they obtain the outcomes? An election was not held. We support the election scheduled for February 17 because it is the only one that will be properly conducted under the law.