The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Publicity Secretary of the All progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Prince Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, yesterday explained why the collation of Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha Local Government results were moved to the State Collation Centre.

The movement of the collation from the original centres have generated controversy over the outcome of Saturday?s Edo State governorships election.

All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Monday Okpebholo won the election.

The State Collation Centre was in the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin city, the state capital.

The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC) , Sam Olumekun; INEC spokesperson in Benin, Toyin Olayiwola, said the umpire wanted to protect the ballot boxes and collation sheets from threat.

Olumekun said the collation centre was moved due to security concerns.

He said the commission was empowered by law to choose any location for the collation of results, if there was threat to security of lives and property.

Olumekun said the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), in charge of the election, Frank Mba, said he could not guarantee security of men and materials at the two collation centres.

He said: ?The collation was moved, because the DIG in charge of election, acting on intelligence, informed the commission that they could not guarantee security in the two places. It was nothing more than that.

?There is this assumption that collation should be done at a particular location, but that is not so. The commission has the power to decide on the venue for collation. Even when that venue has been decided, the commission can shift the venue, if there is threat to the lives of our personnel in such places.

?So, since there was reported threat, we had no choice but to move the collation to the state headquarters of INEC, where there was better security provided by soldiers, policemen, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), and other security personnel.?

APC spokesman Uwadiae-Igbinigie, a lawyer, said the 2022 Electoral Act supported the movement of collation centres to safer places.

He said all the party agents, except that of the PDP, agreed that the collation centres should be moved to the INEC office.

It expressed readiness to head for the tribunal to challenge the verdict.

But the APC defended the integrity of the results, saying the victory in the Edo election is a precursor to the anticipated victory of the party in the Ondo State governorship election slated for November 16.

The APC candidate, Okpebholo scored 291,667 votes to floor PDP?s Asue Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes.

Rejecting the results, PDP National Chairman Illyas Damagum, called for ?the review of all the results from various polling units and collation centers.?

He said: ?The PDP therefore, unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State governorship election as declared by INEC as it did not meet the minimum standard for democracy, having not reflected the expressed will and aspiration of the people in line with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC guidelines for state governorship election.

?The PDP demands that INEC within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022 review the Edo State governorship election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the Polling Units.?

Although he never tendered any proof, the chairman said he and other party chieftains were very certain that the election was rigged against the PDP governorship candidate.

He said: ?As Nigerians already know, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, results obtained from the polling units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, clearly won the election before the figures were altered at the State collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate.?

He added: ?In this election, we shall still put to test once again the level of the preparedness of the judiciary to do justice where it is required.

?We cannot overrule a situation whereby justice will be dispensed, but the most important thing is that we shall put them to more scrutiny before the eyes of Nigerians because they say that when the judicial system does not work, then, you don?t have a country. I don?t know if we will still have a country.?

Stressing that he was speaking out of deep concern for democracy and political stability, Damagum insisted that the Edo election was manipulated.

APC National Chairman Dr. Abdullah Ganduje said the victory of the party in Edo is a forerunner to its victory in the November governorship poll in Ondo State.

The chairman, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, said APC would work hard next year to displace the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State, thereby increasing its influence in the Southeast geo-political zone.

Ganduje said the party would repeat its winning strategy in Ondo and Anambra polls.

He said: ?We have started working to develop strategies to win these states. Next year, Anambra State will follow. Let me remind you that we have a project which we named political demarginalisation of Southeast geo-political zone.

?That project is also a task that must be done. We will face Southeast zone with five states. We already have two, but two is too small for a big party like ours. We will face that state and see how we can recover many states in our favour.?

Ganduje said APC had looked forward to the defeat of the PDP in Edo.

He added: ?This exercise was a different exercise because we were competing with a siting governor, and a governor that was one of our own before. We are children of the same father, but different mothers. When you have such a contest, it is always keen.

?We didn?t part well. We parted in pieces when he left. And the fight continued till yesterday when we were able to bring him down. You can see why we were exchanging blows, and wrestling in a civilized contest.

?So, defeating the governor was a task that must be done. He said it was a ?do or die affair?. But we said no! Our own is ?do and succeed? because if you die,, what?s the essence of the success. We did the fight and we succeeded.?

Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu described Governor Godwin Obaseki as the architect of the PDP?s defeat.

He said PDP candidate Ighodalo lost the election to what he described as ?Obaseki?s missteps.?

Shaibu, who had a protracted rift with his boss before defecting from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), also shed light on the power dynamics and tensions that have shaped Edo politics ahead of the poll.

Reflecting on the origins of Obaseki?s political journey, the deputy governor said the governor stepped on many toes.

Shaibu, who spoke on television, said: ?We made Obaseki a governor. I continue to insist because he was never a politician. He never voted, just like Asue, in Edo State.

?When Oshiomhole convinced us to support him, we all came together. We gave him a chance. The game changer is that all of us that God put together to assist Obaseki to be governor of Edo State, first term and second term, Obaseki has offended all of us to the extent that he pushed us out of the PDP.

Obaseki?s estrangement from key PDP figures marked the beginning of his political decline. His refusal to share governance programmes or include party leaders in decision-making left a bitter taste among those who had helped him rise to power.?

Shaibu described Obaseki?s leadership style as dictatorial, accusing the governor of turning his back on the very people who had ensured his survival.

He stressed: ?Obaseki refused to share his programme with us and felt he could become an autocrat, a dictator. We had 10 of us that contested for primary in PDP, nine of us, he told all of us to go to hell,? Shaibu stated.

According to Shaibu, even leaders like Dan Orbih, who had once canvassed for Obaseki, found themselves alienated.

?The leaders that went round with him, he said; ?Go to hell.? Though he started with Comrade Oshiomole, then like that.?

Shaibu said the dictatorial tendency of the governor led to the exodus of PDP leaders and members, many of who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said 618 Important leaders defected from the PDP to the APC, dealing a critical blow to Obaseki?s political machinery.

He stressed: ?The last time I counted, it?s about 618 of us, key leaders that left PDP to APC. And the interesting thing, we that left APC to PDP, when we were returning, we left the aborigine members of PDP to the extent that the ward leaders, executive were all resigning.

?The total number of people that resigned from my own side was 1,018.These defections, coupled with the general dissatisfaction with Obaseki?s leadership style ensured that the PDP?s chances of winning the election was slim.

?When you put these numbers together, there was no way Obaseki and Asue could win.?

Shaibu maintained that the PDP?s loss was not just about Ighodalo?s candidacy, but a referendum on Obaseki?s governance.

He added: ?This election was not just about Asue; it was about the wickedness of the governor. Even Edo people that were not partisan, his policies, and the way he followed them up contributed to their failure.?

Former Edo State House of Representatives Speaker Kabiru Adjoto, said Okpebholo?s victory was well-deserved.

He said Edo people voted for the APC because they were tired of the PDP government.

He said: ?The people of Edo have spoken through the ballot because they were tired of the current government. It has been a government of one person, for one person, and by one person.

The people were tired. I was once part of the government and I know that they don?t mean well for the people. Edo people decided to change them. It is a good omen for the state.?

Former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi criticised the poll outcome, saying that it ?does not in any way represent the democratic process we chose as a method of electing our political leadership.?

Obi, who was Labour Party (LP?s) presidential candidate in last year?s elections, said the outcome of the election was a ?blatant example of ?state capture?? that undermined the country?s democratic process and values.

The LP candidate In the election, Olumide Osaigbovo Akpata, came a distant third, scoring a little about 22,000 votes.

In a statement posted yesterday on his official X handle, Obi expressed concern over the integrity of the electoral system.

He said: ?What happened over the weekend in the name of election in Edo State does not in any way represent the democratic process we chose as a method of electing our political leadership.

?Instead, it was a blatant example of ?state capture? and continued gross undermining of our democratic process and values.

?Any nation whose leadership recruitment process is so fatally flawed is doomed, and we are all seeing the effect in our country.

?I urge those in authority not to allow this situation to stand, or depend on it to remain in power.? (The Nation)

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