Edo 2016: PDP, Ize-Iyamu Approach Tribunal

The Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in
Edo State, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, in the just concluded Edo State governorship
election and leaders of the party have submitted a petition to the Edo
State Election Petition Tribunal.

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Godwin Obaseki was
declared winner of the election by the electoral commission.

But Mr Ize-Iyamu, who was flanked by other leaders of the party at
the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal premises in Benin City on
Wednesday evening, said they decided to challenge the result of the election in keeping with the
promise they made to their supporters that they would defend the votes
cast for them.

 

Mr Ize-Iyamu and the Chairman of the Party in the State, Mr Dan
Orbih, said they were confident that they would be declared winner at
the conclusion of the case.

On the day of the election, the PDP claimed there was a plan by the electoral body and incumbent Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to rig the election at the collation centre.

The opposition party said that the delay by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to begin ward results announcement at the
collation centre was a sign of the plan.

Governor Oshiomhole is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A statement by the spokesman for the party in Edo State, Chris
Nehikhare, pointed out that voting stopped at 2:00pm and votes were
counted immediately at the unit levels.

he further claimed that his party was in a comfortable lead with some of the results declared at the wards.

But the the INEC in an after-election statement said that the September 28 election was free and fair.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and
Publicity, Solomon Soyebi, told Channels Television in Kaduna that the
election was not flawed with irregularities as being alleged by the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

He debunked claims by the PDP that the commission deliberately
delayed result of the election from the 18 Local Government Councils in
Edo state in order to favour the ruling APC in the state.

He further explained that INEC deployed an electronic device during
the election that tracked the collation of results from the polling
units up to the last collation centre, and therefore checkmated any form
of rigging.

Expressions Of Dissatisfaction

Some observer groups have picked holes in the governorship election.

One of the groups, Election Monitor,
is asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to pay
attention to calls for the cancellation of the governorship election in
Edo State.

The call is on grounds that widespread public outcry signifies dissatisfaction that should not be ignored.

Presenting the group’s election observation report to a press
conference in Abuja on Friday, the National coordinator, Abiodun
Ajijola, said the election had a high case level of vote buying and
over-voting across the polling stations especially in Esako Local
Government Area.

He says such acts give credence to such expressions of dissatisfaction.

Mr Ajijola also noted that while the election could be said to have
been conducted effectively with regards to operation and conduct, the
group observed unacceptable delay in collation of results which the
electoral commission ought to address.

Source: Channels TV