As controversy continue to trail the results of Saturday governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, said on Monday that the Independent National Electoral Commission would only reckon with the exercise conducted at the venue communicated by the national leadership of the party.
Onuoha said by the decision of the Supreme Court, only the national leadership of a political party and not the state leadership could determine the venue of a primary election.
According to him, in the Edo State case, the venue communicated to INEC by the APC national leadership was Lushville Hotel and Suites.
The Edo APC primary produced three ‘winners’.
The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, who is the Chairman of the Edo State Primary Election Committee, announced Dennis Idahosa as winner at Protea Hotel.
The state Returning Officer, Stanley Ugboaja, held a parallel announcement, declaring Monday Okpebholo as winner.
Ugboaja started the announcement at Lushville but finished it at Pastor Osagie Iyamu house.
Also, Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to be representing the returning officers in all the local government declared Anamero Dekeri as the winner of the election.
The trio of Idahosa, Okpebholo and Dekeri are laying claim to victory.
The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, had congrulated Idahosa, who was declared winner by Uzodimma.
But the Edo State leadership of the party have rejected the results declared by Uzodimma, insisting that only the state Returning Officer could declare the winner.
On Monday, Dekeri, who was the third winner to emerge, stormed the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja demanding to be issued with a Certificate of Return as the winner of the poll.
Meanwhile, speaking on the APC primary in Benin on Monday, the Edo State REC said INEC monitored the exercise and would only reckon with results declared at the venue committed to it by the national leadership of the party.
Fielding questions from journalists, Onuoha said, “The Supreme Court has taken a decision on the monitoring of party primaries, that party primaries are duties of the parties.
“Our own is to supervise and in doing such supervision, the party will tell us the venue. It is not the state chapter of the party that will tell us the venue.
“The national body of the parties will write to INEC national chairman of the venue, and the date and the time of the primary, and that we have followed strictly.
“Any political party primaries that was not minuted to us by our headquarters, we will not monitor. We were notified by APC and we monitored the one we were invited to at Lushville Hotel. I was there.”
The REC warned aspirants and political parties to stop campaigning for the governorship election with immediate effect or face sanction.
He said that the commission had yet to lift suspension on campaign, noting that parties and candidates were expected to begin campaigning on April 24.
Meanwhile, angry youths and women on Monday took over the APC party secretariat in Benin, demanding the sack of the State Working Committee led by acting Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, over Saturday’s primary.
The crowd, led by the youth leader of the party, Tony Adun, alias Kabaka, forced their way into the offices and brought out the furniture, bag of rice and other equipment, vowing to stay at building for seven days or till the exco was dissolved.
Adun said, “It is clear that the party excutive in the state is no longer working in the interest of the party, so it is time for them to leave.
“We are here in solidarity with Hon. Dennis Idahosa who the party has nominated. We call on party member to back Idahosa’s candidacy in the governorship election in September.
“As you can see, we are here in large numbers, youths and women, to show our displeasure over the way the exco handled the election.
“We heard that some people collected money from the opposition and some aspirants and want to use that opportunity to destroy the party. They did it before, they sabotaged and betrayed us in the election. What we are hearing now is that because their preferred aspirant did not win, they want to destroy the party.
“I want to send a message to the NWC that since the SWC can disobey what the NWC wanted, they need to be suspended from the party and if that is not done, nobody will enter this secretariat again. We all voted with our membership cards on the day of the election and we all voted for Hon Dennis Idahosa; they are trying to sabotage our efforts but we will not allow it.”
When contacted on the allegation, the State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Peter Uwadiae, said an official reaction of the party would be made on the development at the appropriate time.
Also, one of the three aspirants laying claim to victory, Dekeri, on Monday, angrily walked into the national headquarters of the APC in Abuja to demand a Certificate of Return.