Edo: PDP files petition, trades words with APC over iReV ‘manipulation’

• Obaseki under fire over monarch’s appointment amid contempt charges

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not relenting in its diatribe over alleged manipulation of the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) during last month’s governorship election in Edo State. This is as the Edo PDP Chairman, Dr Anthony Aziegbemi, said the party has filed a petition against the September 21 poll, expressing optimism of reclaiming what the party described as a “stolen mandate”.

He added that most of the party members arrested by the police before the election had been released on bail with about N64 million. On the PDP chieftains arrested, Aziegbemi said, “Before the election, most of our members were arrested by a special unit of the police from Abuja. They were released on bail after paying about N64 million, and the police said bail is free.”

An Abuja-based Initiative for Democratic Advancement and Free Speech told Edo PDP to accept the outcome of the election rather than trying to whip up sentiments.

Executive Director of the organisation, Patrick Osaigbovo, stated, yesterday, that it was unfortunate that the main plank of the PDP and Ighodalo’s case was on the functionality or otherwise of the IReV portal.

Osaigbovo lamented that since after the election, the PDP had increased its onslaught on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and others.

“Such onslaughts are a carryover of its pre-election strategy of using crass propaganda to attempt to intimidate state institutions and pull the wool over the faces of the electorate.

“As a good governance advocacy group committed to deepening Nigeria’s electoral democracy, we dare say that the PDP, through its actions and or inactions, lost the people even before the election,” he stated.

In another development, Governor Godwin Obaseki is facing intense backlash from members of the Okpella community in the state for allegedly politicising the selection process to the throne of the Okuokpellagbe of Okpella.

A contempt and criminal proceedings were, on Friday, served on the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Monday Osaigbovo, and the state government for acting on a matter before a court of competent jurisdiction.

A contender for the throne, Mike Sado, during a press briefing, in Abuja, accused Obaseki and his associates of politicising the selection process, disregarding the community’s customs and traditions.

Sado claimed that the government’s interference led to confusion and conflict in the community, adding that the governor was setting a bad precedent that could undermine the customs and tradition of the community, which could attract the wrath of the gods.

He explained that the stool was initially narrowed down to three kindreds, each asked to nominate a candidate, noting that only his kindred met the timeframe.

The community urged the state government to do the right thing in line with laid down traditions and customs. On September 26, 2024, the state government appointed Lukman Akemokhue as the new Okuogbellagbe of Okpella, despite a pending court case instituted by Sado.