By DADA AYOKHAI
The Guber candidate of Accord Party,AP,,
Dr. Bright Enabulele has approached the Edo governorship election petitions Tribunal seeking to be declared winner of the Edo Guber election of September 21st.
Dr. Enabulele, the party’s guber candidate, declared that going to the Tribunal is necessary due to the significant fraud and irregularities that marred the election.
The party, he noted, plans to present compelling evidence of the widespread irregularities to the Tribunal, emphasizing that the INEC made a mistake in declaring the APC guber candidate as the winner.
Both the INEC and the APC, including its guber candidate, are the primary defendants in the petition filed by the AP.
The Tribunal sitting is imminent in Benin, the Edo State capital.
As per electoral law, the petitioners, in this case, the political parties, have 21 days to file their complaints regarding the conduct of the election.
The Tribunal is also expected to thoroughly adjudicate on the petitions.
In the petition filed by his lawyers, the AP guber candidate argued that the September 21 Edo governorship election was marred by electoral malpractices, voter intimidation, suppression, and fraud.
Speaking with journalists in Benin immediately after his counsel submitted his petition to the Tribunal, Dr Enabulele,, stated that he was seeking either a declaration of himself as the winner of the election or an outright cancellation of the exercise.
The petitioner cited an example of his ward claimed t at Ward 5 at St Saviour Ivbiyeneva Primary School unit 1 in the Ikpoba/Okha local government area, where he voted but zero vote was recorded for his party.
Expressing hope for a positive outcome, Dr Enabulele insisted that he was unfairly denied victory on September 21, asserting that the process was heavily compromised and manipulated to produce a different outcome by certain forces whom he refused to name intent on subverting the will of the Edo people.
He emphasized that he holds no grudges against the person declared as the winner of the election by INEC, but he believes that the process leading to the declaration was flawed and compromised.
He also maintained that the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) deployed by INEC to ensure a smooth exercise and reduce human interference was heavily compromised by the APC and its allies who sought to undermine the process.
Criticizing the ruling Edo PDP for hastily obtaining a court order, Dr. Enabulele suggested that the PDP’s action was both “hasty and premature,” emphasizing that the BIVAS machine as well as other sensitive materials used in the election could have been subpoenaed as exhibits once the legal proceedings began at the Tribunal.
He stated, “The case is primarily against two parties, INEC and the APC, including its guber candidate.
“The reason for the legal challenge was the substantial non-compliance with the process on September 21. My mandate was stolen, there were significant cases of fraud, voter intimidation, and the worst of it all was the deliberate announcement of the wrong result by INEC.”
Dr Enabulele vowed to pursue the case to its logical conclusion, insisting the sanctity of the electoral process must be defended and protected from those who seek to revert to the past of ballot box snatching, election rigging, and other forms of electoral malfeasance.
He added that it was incumbent on him and others to challenge injustice in whatever form it takes.
