The Edo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said it filed a petition at the election petition tribunal challenging the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as winner of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the Edo governorship election held on September 21.
The electoral body said Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who scored 247, 274 and 22,763 votes respectively.
But addressing newsmen yesterday in Benin, the state chairman of the PDP, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, said the outcome of the election did not reflect the will of the people, expressing hope that the tribunal would deliver justice.
Giving party members assurance, Tony Aziegbemi said, “We have filed our petition before the Election Tribunal on your behalf. I assure you that the journey to reclaim our mandate has begun and by the grace of God, your mandate will be returned.
“In spite of INEC’s feeble attempt to deny us full complements of our request for CTC of all electoral materials, being the political wing of the APC, we were still able to do the needful.”
He dispelled the claim that PDP members disrupted the inspection of electoral materials at the INEC office, arguing that they need the materials to support their petition.
“That PDP is disrupting the inspection of materials at INEC office is absurd. In whose interest is the disruption? We applied to the court for inspection, and the court granted us an enrolled order to inspect.
Why would we want to disrupt the process?” he queried.
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