Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State demonstrated yesterday against Sen. Monday Okpebholo’s nomination as the party’s standard bearer in the governorship primary that took place last Saturday.
Those who backed APC candidate Hon. Dennis Idahosa asserted that the party’s election body had given votes to Okpebholo.
After a resounding primary, Okpebholo was named the APC candidate. It all started with three hopefuls—Okpebholo, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, and Hon. Anamero Dakeri—claiming to be the party’s candidate for the September election.
Last Saturday’s exercise was just a redistribution of votes to Okpebholo, according to Hon. Harrison Okpamen, who spoke on behalf of the protesters at the Edo State Council Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Okpamen emphasized that the exercise that produced Idahosa as the APC candidate remains authentic.
He said that members of the party colluded with the electoral commission, headed by Cross Rivers State governor Sen. Bassey Etu, to give out campaign funds to various candidates.
“They threw caution to the winds and began to announce the fake results” (in reference to the previous exercise), according to Okpamen, who was speaking to the APC national chairman. According to a public declaration made by the Party’s National Publicity Secretary, the sole authority to disclose results lies with the Hope Uzodinma Committee.