By DADA AYOKHAI
Supporters of Hon. Dennis idahosa popularly known as Denco a serving member of the House of Representatives have conveyed their dismay over the outcome of the Edo APC primary rerun, saying the process was flawed from the outset
They have since gone ahead to file a petition addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Umar Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State
The supporters, in their numbers staged a protest at the Edo State NUJ Secretariat in Benin, where they openly cried foul over the outcome of the primary rerun saying it violated significant sections of the electoral law as well as the Constitution of the party.
Hon. Idahosa won the first primary election supervised by Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo State. The primary election was later annulled by the APC NWC and a rerun was ordered.
The protesters led by Harrison Okpamen, the spokesperson for the Idahosa group, stated in their petition that the primary election rerun was a complete misnomer, undemocratic, unlawful, and shameful They added that it also contravened section 84(4) of the electoral law as well as Article 20(4) of the APC Constitution .
The petition contains ten grounds on which the group wants the primary election that produced Sen. Okpevblo to be set aside
The first primary election on February 17 was won by Hon. Dennis Idahosa with over 40, 000 votes took place in the 192 Wards of the state and was supervised by Gov. Hope Uzodinma as the Committee chairman.
The APC NWC later overturned the result and ordered a rerun and fixed Thursday, February 22, as the new date.
In their submission, the group fingered some persons as having played a spoiler role during the primary rerun election, stressing such persons were holed up in the hotel room of a popular Benin hotel, posing as Returning Officers, and went on to proclaim Sen. Okpevblo as winner based on fictitious results.
This, according to them, was contrary to the pronouncements of the National Publicity Secretary of the party that only Gov Uzodinma Committee has the power to declare the elected candidate
They further alleged that the rerun of Thursday, February 22 did not substantially comply with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act, as it relates to giving each of the aspirants equal opportunity to be voted for by the party members across the designated centers and wards that make up the state
In particular, they alluded to the fact that Gov. Otu, in a bid to manipulate the process, allocated the same number of votes to Sen. Okpevblo upon which he was declared the winner of the primary
“Curiously, Governor Otu went out of circulation while the so-called LGA returning officers were enjoying the comfort of their hotel rooms With funds paid by aspirants for collection of nomination forms. Party leaders brought the results from their various LGAs to the collation center and there was no one to hand them to. Worried party Members waited in the vicinity of the collation center in vain. Suddenly, Governo, Otu arrived and ordered armed soldiers to evacuate party Members — After scattering party members disrespectfully like goats, he then announced some figures conjured from no where as votes scored in the said direct primaries. They turned out to be the same votes allocated to Senator Okpebholo at mid night in the primary election of 17th February, 2024 which was discredited by the party and upon which they ordered a proper per completion of the said primaries.”
