By Ayo Kehinde
…We recognize Uzodinma result – Says party
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State is currently at a crossroad as two aspirants have been declared winners of the gubernatorial primary election in the state.
Some media reports indicated that the Chairman of the election committee, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, had declared Dennis Idahosa the winner of the election with 40,453 votes, while Senator Monday Okpebholo reportedly polled 100 votes.
The declaration by Gov Uzodinma was after thugs invaded the Lushville Hotel collation centre at the time the collation of results was ongoing by the various local government returning officers.
The hoodlums reportedly disrupted the exercise and attacked journalists, electoral officers, and party faithful at the hotel. They ended up chasing the electoral officers out of the venue.
But the State Returning Officer for the primary election, Dr Ugbaja Stanley Uzoamaka, also declared Senator Monday Okpebholo the winner with 12,145 votes and added that Honourable Dennis Idahosa scored 5,536 votes.
Uzoamaka said a total of 42,381 delegates, who were financial members of the party were vetted during the revalidation exercise.
He added that 29,881 delegates were accredited for the primary, while the total votes were still from 29,881 delegates.
Speaking with newsmen, the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Peter Uwadia, described the announcement of Dennis Idahosa as the winner of the primary by Governor Hope Uzodinma as null and void and with no political effect.
Uwadia said, in line with the party constitution, that Governor Uzodimma was just the chairman of the electoral committee and not the returning officer.
He noted that the only person who is constitutionally empowered to announce the results of the primary is the electoral officer and not the chairman of the committee.
He disclosed that five members of the party, who were attacked and wounded are currently receiving treatment in undisclosed hospitals.
In his acceptance remarks, Senator Monday Okpebholo, commended the delegates for the primary, noting that the exercise was peaceful across the 192 wards in the 18 local government areas before thugs were allegedly sponsored to invade the collation centre.
However, the ruling APC said it would only recognise the results declared by the Uzodimma committee.
“We wish to state categorically that only the Governor Hope Uzodinma-Led Edo State APC Governorship Primary Election Committee is duly authorised to undertake the final collation and announcement of results of the Primary Election in the State,” the party’s spokesman Felix Morka said in a statement.
“We urge all party members, officials in the State, and the general public to disregard the said announcement of results by these unauthorized persons.”
Earlier, some members of the APC in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State told newsmen that the election was peaceful.
The APC had a few days back cleared twelve aspirants to contest the party’s primary election. But Osagie Ize-Iyamu who flew the APC flag in the 2020 governorship poll withdrew from the race on the eve of the exercise, alongside Lucky Imasuen
