By DADA AYOKHAI
The political battle for supremacy between the former comrade governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Senator Francis Alimikhena, his former acolyte who later defected from the All Progressive Congress,APC, to the ruling party in the state,People’s Democratic party, PDP to contest the Edo North senatorial seat will soon shift to the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal in Benin and, perhaps, beyond there.
Both the former comrade governor and Senator Alimikhena were the best of political friends until the issue of ambition arose and tore them apart.
While Sen Alimikhena was hell-bent on a third term and saw that some forces in the Edo North APC were up in arms against him, he quickly beat a retreat and defected to the ruling PDP where he received a warm embrace.
Comrade Oshiomole on the other hand was eager to bounce back into political reckoning after his exit as the national chairman of the APC.
The Edo North APC senatorial ticket, therefore, became a bone of contention between the two hitherto budding political friends
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According to the results of the Saturday, February 25, Edo North senatorial election announced by the INEC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole polled 107, 110 of the votes cast to defeat Sen Alimikhena who polled 55, 344 votes
A dissatisfied Sen Alimikhena approached the Election Tribunal for a review of the results as well as a declaration that he was the winner of the election
Sen Alimikhena, who hails from Etsako East local government area of the Edo North district and has been in the Senate since 2011, claimed in the petition submitted to the Tribunal by his lawyers that there were reported cases of irregularities in some of the polling units and wards in the district, and that INEC ignored these irregularities in announcing the winner
He then urged the Tribunal to declare him as the winner of the February 25 Edo North senatorial election
