As reactions trail the outcome of the Edo Governorship poll, Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, has condemned the outcome of the Edo State governorship election.
In a statement on Sunday, Fintiri who declared that he is weeping for Nigeria’s democracy, described the exercise as shameful.
“I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll. The APC’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas,” the Governor lamented.
“What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their Governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters.
While noting that the blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage, he further slammed INEC for compromising and favoring APC.
“We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Edo State Governor ,Godwin Obaseki, has appealed to residents to remain calm over the outcome of Saturday’s governorship election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) .
Reacting in a statement, Obaseki, while emphasizing that the election was marred with disregard to processes and the rule of law, enjoned aggrieved persons to explore the legal options to express their reactions.
“The attractive thing about democracy is the power it bestows on the people to choose who governs them. Therefore, when this power is blatantly seized from the people, it is not just a tragedy, but a travesty of democracy.
“Regrettably, the outcome of the September 21st governorship election appears to have daunted the spirit of many Edo people who feel powerless in the face of the brute force of the institutions that are supposed to protect them. It is therefore understandable that many people feel sad and aggrieved.
INEC had declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the keenly contested election in the South-South state.
Okpebholo, 54, secured 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 247,274 and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) who came a distant third in the race with 22,761 votes.
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