During the first week of hearings at the High Court Complex on Sapele Road, emotions began to rise, prompting the Edo State Police Command to boost its presence at the Edo State governorship election petition tribunal venue in Benin City, the state capital.
In an exclusive interview, the command underlined its duty to keep the tribunal peaceful and free from disruptions in the wake of gunshots and altercations between members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Last September, All Progressives Congress candidate Senator Monday Okpebholo was proclaimed the victor of the Edo State gubernatorial election.
As per the Independent National Electoral Commission’s announcement of the results from the 18 local government areas, Okpebholo received 291,667 votes, surpassing his nearest opponent, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who received 247,655 votes.
With 22,763 votes, Labour Party candidate Olumide Akpata came in third. Nonetheless, the PDP pledged to contest the outcome in court and lodged a fraud complaint.
“The way these elections are going, they are probably going to be the worst elections in the history of this country,” PDP candidate Ighodalo said after the poll.”
The PDP and six other political parties that took part in the poll, unhappy with INEC’s announcement, went to the tribunal to contest the results. Specifically, the PDP is requesting that the tribunal declare its candidate, Ighodalo, the election’s victor and void the outcome.
The PDP and APC were both accused of vote-buying by the Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa, which was in charge of overseeing the election, and election workers had been harassed in certain places.
