Edo Poll: APC Alleges Foul Play, Rejects Obaseki’s Victory

The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday, rejected the result of Saturday’s governorship election won by Governor Godwin Obaseki.

The party claimed there was foul and “strong-arm tactics” during the poll.

Obaseki, who contested the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled a total of 307,955 votes to emerge winner of the contest.

His closest rival, Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the APC, came second after scoring 223,619 votes.

The Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki, said in a statement that “the party rejects the result.”

Mayaki, however, advised members of the party to remain calm, while its leaders studied the outcome of the poll to come up with the next line of action.

Mayaki said: “Our people were arbitrarily arrested, many of the figures were fabricated.”

He alleged that some results were tampered with.

The chairman further said: “Areas where we won, they cancelled them. They decreased the votes in areas we had advantages.

“They rejected our results and jerked up theirs.”

He further alleged that local party members were arrested.

He also said: “Obaseki shouted that he was being rigged out and blamed INEC at the initial stage but that was to divert attention from the evil going on in the field.”

Efforts to reach the spokesman of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, was not successful as he did not pick his calls as of the time of filing this report.