Edo guber polls: INEC declares APC candidate winner; PDP,KOWA reject outcome; Jubilation in Obaseki’s camp

AGENE GODWIN,Benin
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Edo state gubernatorial election, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has been declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), candidate Pastor Ize-Iyamu coming second.
Obaseki polled 319,483 votes, Ize-Iyamu was announced as having garnered 253,173 votes, but even while the results were still being collated and officially announced, the PDP and KOWA party had, at different fora, rejected the results, citing irregularities, over voting and snatching of ballot papers as reasons.
The PDP’s agent also refused to sign the results after the collation as demanded by the Returning Officer, Professor Kayode Soremekun, also citing irregularities.
Professor Soremekun went ahead to announce the results, returning Obaseki as Governor-elect.
In a press conference addressed by its Chairman in the state, Mr Dan Orbih, on Thursday in Benin, which was also attended by the party’s governorship candidate in the election, Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the PDP said it was rejecting the results because they were “fabricated and pre-determined” by the INEC and the Edo Government. .
Orbih said that the results as they were being announced by the INEC, were at complete variance with what the party got from its agents and independent observers.
He alleged that the two-week extension of the poll by the electoral body was to allow for more time to perfect the manipulation of the process.
“You will recall that our state Publicity Secretary had briefed the press less than 48 hours to the elections on what is playing out now.
“If you go by the results that were announced at the polling units and wards across the state, it shows that PDP would have won by over 30,000 votes.
“What INEC is announcing is clearly different from what we got from our agents and independent observers in the 192 wards and over 2,000 units across the state.
“We are rejecting these results as they were being announced by INEC and we are coming out early enough to make this known,” he said.
The chairman said the cancellation of some results on the basis of failed card reader was part of a deliberate plan to also manipulate the poll.
He alleged that the areas where results were canceled were strongholds of the PDP.
“I wonder what the Incident Form is for. Voters should not be made to suffer unduly for the inefficiency of card readers,” he said.
He said the results as were being announced by INEC, were clearly at variance with the widely acclaimed voter- turnout that was also acknowledged by the electoral umpire itself.
On his part, the governorship candidate said he aligned himself with the position of the party.
“The results are not a true reflection of what happened in the field. The INEC only played a script written by the Government of Edo,” he said
Also the KOWA candidate, Kingsley Osadolor while raising objections at the INEC Benin office said common sense demands that the results be canceled.
He said “I strongly want to urge INEC to cancel the results based on over voting, snatching of ballot papers and financial inducement as recorded by INEC.”