All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Edo State, yesterday, staged a protest against the outcome of the party’s governorship primary which produced Sen Monday Okpebholo as its standard bearer last Saturday.
The members who are supporters of the Hon Dennis Idahosa, an APC aspirant, claimed that the APC electoral committee allocated votes to Okpebholo.
Okpebholo eventually emerged as the APC candidate following a conclusive primary election. The initial conduct of the exercise had seen three aspirants namely, Okpebholo, Hon Dennis Idahosa and Hon Anamero Dakeri laying claim to the candidacy of the party for the September election.
But speaking on behalf of the protesters at the Edo State Council Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Hon Harrison Okpamen, insisted that the exercise that produced Idahosa as APC candidate remains authentic, adding that last Saturday’s exercise was a mere allocation of votes to Okpebholo.
He alleged that some party members connived with the electoral committee led by the governor of Cross Rivers State, Sen. Bassey Etu to allocate figures to aspirants.
In an address to the APC national chairman, Okpamen said in the earlier exercise, “They threw caution to the winds and began to announce the fake results. The National Publicity Secretary of the Party issued a public statement to the effect that only the Hope Uzodinma Committee had the powers to announce results.
“Notwithstanding this, they gathered in the house of one of the aspirants at midnight to announce the fake results. They declared one Senator Monday Okpebholo as the elected candidate of the party for the said governorship elections”.
He said no returning officers were deployed to the wards on the day of the rescheduled exercise as directed by Governor Otu. He said aspirants, based on the governor’s directive, had done fresh mobilisation of members to the wards.
“To their surprise, no returning officers were deployed to these wards to conduct the primaries. Party members, after waiting in vain for the arrival of the election officials, began to queue behind posters of their preferred aspirants. It was clear that Hon. Dennis Idahosa was the preferred candidate of a vast majority of party members.
“Curiously, Governor Otu went out of circulation while the so-called LGA returning officers were enjoying the comfort of their hotel rooms with funds paid by aspirants for collection of nomination forms.
“Party leaders brought the results from their various LGAs to the collation center and there was no one to hand them to. Worried party members waited in the vicinity of the collation center in vain. Suddenly, Governor Otu arrived and ordered armed soldiers to evacuate party members.
“After scattering party members disrespectfully like goats, he then announced some figures conjured from nowhere as votes scored in the said direct primaries. They turned out to be the same votes allocated to Senator Okpebholo at midnight in the primary election of 17th February, 2024 which was discredited by the party and upon which they ordered a proper completion of the said primaries.
“The party members present to vote did not have their votes cast recorded by any known office of the party’s National Secretariat. Quite clearly the result sheets used for the announcement of results were completed in the National Secretariat of the party as it did not flow from the reality on ground in Edo State.
“The said primaries of 17th and 22nd February, 2024 were not conducted by open secret ballot by APC as required by relevant provisions of APC constitution and the declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo is not only unlawful, but a crass violation of the APC constitution.
“Our strong prayer is that the injustice perpetrated by the Governor Otu committee be set aside by the party and Hon. Dennis Idahosa will be rightfully declared winner.