‘My mission in INEC office,’ Obaseki breaks silence

The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has explained why he visited the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Benin City, the state capital, in the early hours of Sunday.

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Edo election, Frank Mba, had walked Obaseki, who was accompanied by his security aides, out of the INEC office around 3am.

The governor headed for office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), where he held a closed door meeting.

While there, some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) stormed INEC office in protest.

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Among the protesters were Ajibola Basiru, National Secretary of the APC, and Dennis Idahosa, running mate to Senator Monday Okpebholo, governorship candidate of the APC.

Speaking to journalists on Sunday at the Peoples Democratic Party Situation Room in Benin, the governor said he had gone to meet the Resident Electoral Commission after receiving reports that the commission had stopped collation.

He said, “At about 1am, I got a report that collation was supposed to have been moved to the INEC head office. I also got reports from our agents that PDP agents were not allowed into the collation centre.

“At that point in time, I called the REC to find an explanation of what was going on. There was no response, and I then went to the INEC office to meet with the REC and to understand what steps INEC was taken to continue the process of collation.”