The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday congratulated the winner of last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), noting that the peaceful nature of the election reflected President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to the development of democracy in the country.
The Chairman of its National Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, expressed the party’s position in a statement in Abuja shortly after a meeting with the president along with Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.
Obaseki had emerged winner of the contest in which APC’s Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was the main challenger.
The contest which proved analysts wrong as it was peaceful was yesterday adjudged fair and credible by the coalition of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)-accredited Civil Society and other Domestic Election Observers.
Giving its assessment of the election in Benin City, the spokesman of the coalition, Mr. Victor Kalu, said: “INEC meticulously followed its timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct of Edo State Governorship election 2020 to conclusion.
“We noted with satisfaction that INEC was resolute, prepared, and committed to conducting a credible, free, and fair governorship election in Edo State, by providing a level- playing ground for all the participated political parties in the state and for ensuring timely and even distribution of election materials across the polling units in the state for timely commencement of the election.”
The group commended INEC for its uncompromising position and strict compliance with the use of the Smart Card Reader, adding that the device proved to be very effective during the election.
It expressed happiness that the perceived tension and fear of violence during the poll did not materialise, praising the law enforcement agents for being duty conscious and for performing their jobs dispassionately.
The coalition recommended that for better future elections, strict security check and possible scanning of voters’ card before entering polling units because of the presence of people who had no business at the polling units being mobilised to go there.
The coalition thanked the president for not interfering in the election and remaining true to his words of ensuring a credible and transparent election.
However, a member of the National Caretaker Committee of the APC, representing the youths, Mr. Ismail Ahmed, has said that the party would not take the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State for granted.
He also revealed that the ruling party would carry out a post mortem on the Edo election to ascertain the factors that led to the defeat of the party.
Ahmed stated this yesterday while fielding questions from journalists after the meeting between the party and its social media influencers held at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.
He said it was very disheartening that for the first time since 2015, the party does not have a single representation in the South-south in terms of a state.
Ahmed stressed that the APC had representation in all the geo-political zones since 2015, but it has lost it now, adding that the party would have to work hard to regain it.
Commenting on Edo State election, he stated: “Are you calling that performance dismal? Remember we ran against an incumbent governor and everybody knows the history of Edo governorship primary and there were a lot of circumstances we could not explain.
“We thought we had covered the ground fully well but there was a blind side we didn’t see. But the party has not officially done a post-mortem which we intend to do this week. The National Assembly is very busy, we are going to call a post-mortem to know how far and how we found ourselves in this kind of situation.”
Source: THISDAY
