The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo on Wednesday in Benin rejected the result of the rescheduled local council election held in Esan North East on Oct. 22.
Mr Solomon Ogun, the Chairman of Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), had on Tuesday night announced Mr Sam Oboh, the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), as the winner of the election.
Rejecting the result, the state PDP Chairman, Mr Dan Orbih, told newsmen that the electoral law allowed only registered political parties to contest elections.
Orbih stressed that only a party which took part in previous elections was legally qualified for a re-run or rescheduled election.
He also alleged that the APC-led government of Edo announced the result of the polls in Benin while the results were still being collated at Uromi.
“By law, only registered parties are allow to participate in elections and only parties that took part in previous elections are also allowed to take part in the re-run or rescheduled election.
“There was no APC when the local government elections took place across the state on April 20.
“It is also undemocratic to start announcing an election’s result when the results are still being collated,” he said.
Besides, Orbih said that the result announced by the chairman of EDSIEC was totally different from the ones which the presiding and returning officers submitted to the commission.
“The result before us clearly states that the PDP won the election and we are going to stand by the result that was announced in Uromi and not the one announced by the commission’s chairman.
“The Commissioner of Police, State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have the same result as the one we have before us now,’’ he said.
Orbih said: “We are going to publish this actual result so that the whole world will know that the principle of `One-Man, One-Vote’ has clearly been violated in Edo State.
“If we must deepen democracy in Nigeria, we must do the right thing at the right time; it is not an issue between the PDP and APC; it is an issue of democracy.
“We are going to contest the result in court and ensure that Mr John Yakubu, the PDP candidate, is declared the winner of the election and sworn in as the chairman of Esan North East Local Government Council, ” he said.
Orbih, however, appealed to the PDP supporters to remain calm, assuring them that the party would take a legal action to reclaim the mandate.
