Edo

…..says APC not a dump site

As the race to the 2025 Edo Central Senatorial District by-elections gathers momentum, a political interest group in the Edo Central Senatorial District of Edo State, the Edo Central Concerned Indigenes has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC, Edo State Governor elect, Sen. Monday Okpebholo and the leadership of All Progressives Party to reward loyalty to the party by ceding the Senatorial seat in the zone to Esan South East Local Government Area.

The group which comprised politicians, representatives from various quarters and other stakeholders made the appeal while reviewing the political state of affairs of the local government area. At an enlarged meeting over the weekend, they decried alleged marginalization of the area in terms of dividends of democracy.

The group made the plea in a statement signed by its Chairman, Elder Anthony Iseyesebho and Secretary Afekelu Otibho. It alleged that the local government has not enjoyed fair political representations in the APC government despite the contributions from the area.

The group urged the ruling APC to cede the Edo central Senatorial slot to the council as a mark of appreciation, stressing that the area deserves it by merit owing to its sustained loyalty to the party over the years.

“The truth of the matter is that our local government has not been enjoying fair political representations under the APC administration since.

The statement reads in part.

Esan South East local government has been fair to APC as a party. We appeal for APC to consider the local government to produce the next senator.

“We the Edo Central concerned indigenes of Esan South East chapter, appeal to the leadership of the party to cede the Senate ticket to the local government. We appeal to APC to give us SENATE. It has to be a dedicated, loyal, and committed party member from our communities .

They frown at the ambition of some persons in Esan North East, a local government that already had the federal house of representative member. It was worrisome and amounts to breach of equity and fairness that politicians from that axis are still advocating for Senate, thus; pushing for over concentration of power out of outright greed.

The group noted that the old Agbazilo consists of two districts, The Esan North East and Esan South East and one would expect our brothers from the Esan North East axis to enjoy their position as Federal House of Representatives and allow the other districts to contest for the senatorial office.

We also saw some pictures of Arch. Mike Onolenmemen, a supposed APC member, who never participated all through the governorship campaign still posting pictures of wanting to contest for the senate, and this will make one to ask if APC is no longer a political party? Or do you people want to turn it into an association?

A man who left nothing on ground to be remembered when he was a minister of Works and Housing.

Throughout the APC campaign he didn’t come out to join the Uromi people and the APC members to campaign. APC is a political party with members and they deserve fair treatment, APC should not be seen as dumped site.

Thousands of women, dressed in black, took to the streets of Benin City today in a massive protest, demanding the return of the mandate they believe was given to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie, in the recently concluded Edo governorship election.

Chanting slogans of “Justice for Edo!” and “Our votes must count,” the protesters decried what they called the manipulation and tampering of the election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and alleged collusion with the All Progressives Congress (APC).

One of the protest leaders who addressed journalists said, “We, the women of Edo, are not here for violence. We are here for justice.

Our votes were for Asue Ighodalo and Osarodion Ogie. We will not sit by and watch our democracy be stolen from us.”

The peaceful protest, which saw participants from various parts of the state, blocked major roads in the capital, disrupting daily activities as they marched towards the INEC office, demanding immediate compliance with the court order to release all election materials for inspection.

Mrs. Iwinosa Aikhomu, another protester, said: “This is our state, our future, and we will not allow anyone to take it from us. INEC must follow the law, and APC must respect the will of the people!”

The protest comes in the wake of a heated political battle, with the PDP accusing INEC of refusing to release the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and other materials used in the September 21, 2024, election, despite a court order.

The women vowed to continue their demonstrations until the rightful winners are recognized.

The protesting women also called on the international community to intervene in the crisis, warning that continued suppression of the people’s will could lead to unrest.

“The world needs to know what is happening in Edo State,” said Mrs. Josephine Osagie, a marketwoman from Ekpoma.

Today’s procession is the latest in a series of demonstrations that have taken place across Edo State since the election results were announced.

Supporters of Ighodalo and Ogie have continued to demand justice, accusing INEC and the APC of attempting to undermine democracy in the state.

There is currently heavy security at the Edo State government house (Osadebe Avenue) following reports that Philip Shaibu is plotting to resume office as Deputy Governor.

The Edo House of Assembly had impeached Shaibu at the height of his rift with Governor Godwin Obaseki.

However, he challenged the impeachment in court, saying the lawmakers did not give him fair hearing.

A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice J. K. Omotosho had annulled the impeachment and ordered reinstatement of Shaibu, but the government failed to comply with the order, saying it had filed a stay of execution.

When Daily Trust visited the Government House area, on Monday morning, visitors and civil servants were seen trekking long distances to their destinations after parking their vehicles by the road side.

Responding, Shaibu’s spokesperson, Mr.Ebomhiana Musa, denied the allegation, saying the reality is yet to dawn on Obaseki that they had been rejected by Edo people.

“We want to put it clearly here that, unlike Governor Godwin Obaseki, Philip Shaibu is a peace loving man, who firmly believes in the rule of law and would not want to shed innocent blood for whatever reason.

“As it is today, in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the good people of Edo State and Nigerians, Philip Shaibu is the de jure and de facto Deputy Governor of Edo State. We need not fight or struggle for that which God has given us”, he said.

The INEC’s resident electoral commissioner (REC) in Edo, Anugbum Onuoha has revealed that ongoing governorship election results will be transmitted electronically, saying only a poor network can stop the electronic transmission of results.

Onuoha made this known in an interview with Arise Television on Saturday, where he also disclosed that INEC has implemented contingency plans of 660 BVAS as a backup.

“You know that we have 4,519 pulling units across the 18 local governments, and so far we have deployed 4,622 BVAS to the various local governments. And we also have a backup of 660 BVAS,” he said.

“We have trained the operators for the BVAS. They are set. BVAS is to accredit the voters, to know the total number of voters that will vote at that level, that pulling unit.

“After that, then the voters will now start voting. At the end of the day, they will count the results, and it will be uploaded to our IReV.

“That is the state we are now. To be rest assured that we’ll conduct an election that we can call our own.
“I just want you to confirm. So are you saying that this election is going to be, the results will all be transmitted electronically? Is that what you’re saying? Yes. Thank you.

“Yes, unless there is no network in that place. If not, it will. We will transmit it.”

The ongoing governorship election in Edo State was disrupted in Ward 8, unit 1, Orhionmwon, in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state as voters protested the absence of result sheets.

In a video currently making the rounds, the voters were seen demanding for the election results sheets.

Unfortunately, the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC were unable to provide the sheets, saying “they are bringing it”.

Angered by the development, the voters who were already queued up for the exercise, said they cannot participate in an election where there is no result sheets.

Leading reporters gathered that that prior to the election, there were reports that some political parties were planning to forge results.

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