Edo PDP hopeful of victory over Obaseki in court

Almost a month after the Edo State governorship election, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has said it hopes to overturn the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in court.

In an interview with journalists yesterday, state chairman of the PDP, Dan Orbih, said the party remains calm as it seeks to reclaim its stolen mandate from the court and appealed to supporters not to take laws into their hands.

According to Orbih: “We, and indeed Nigerians know that the governorship election was won by the PDP. We have evidence to back this; we are not just laying claims to have won.

“PDP did not lose the election. It will be appropriate to say that the INEC allocated votes to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and declared them winner of that election.

“We have already stated our position ever before they declared that results. We rejected the drama that played out at the INEC headquarters in Edo, and stated clearly quite early that the outcome of that exercise was not acceptable to our party and Edo people.

“We are already in court over this and I assure you that people will be surprised to see the level of collaboration between some members of staff of the INEC, police and Edo government that went to manipulate the entire process of the election.”

Meanwhile, the South-South State Chairmen of Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP) have said Edo State Governor-Elect, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, is a man the people could trust to protect the legacies and enhance the values that Governor Adams Oshiomhole has put in place.

A statement by the group’s Chairman, Efe Tobor, called on Edo people to support his government when he takes the mantle of leadership of the state.

The statement reads in part: “The governor-elect, Godwin Obaseki is a man they can trust to protect the legacies and enhance the values that Oshiomhole has put in place. We commend the PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu for presenting himself for the election and performing well at the polls. We urge him to support the governor-elect.”

While appraising the September 28 governorship poll, the group said it witnessed an improvement. “It was a pleasant surprise that an election which was conducted on the 28th of September 2016 had its results announced by INEC by 9.22a.m the next day, September 29, 2016. This was unlike previous elections where results were delayed. It is also noteworthy to remark that throughout the elections, INEC regular workers as well as ad hoc staff maintained a high degree of integrity by refusing to compromise standards.”