Former Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki
has claimed that the independent analysis by the Athena Centre for Policy and
Leadership of the Edo State governorship election has thrown Governor Monday
Okpebholo into a frenzy.
Recall that Osita Chidoka, the founder of the Centre,
had claimed that the governorship election results shouldn’t have stood.
Chidoka, who presented the Athena Centre’s findings on
the Edo State election on Channels Television’s Politics Today, stated that
there was substantial evidence of systemic rigging.
But in a statement to Naijaonpoint on
Saturday, Okpebholo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, said in a
well-orchestrated plot hatched by the PDP, in connivance with Chidoka, tried to
bully and blackmail the judiciary into circumventing the will of Edo people.
He said the shameful display on
Channels Television’s Politics Today reeled out numbers purchased from ‘Oluwole
market,’ and impetuously concluded that the 21st September governorship
election in Edo State was rigged.
In a swift reaction to Okpebholo’s comments, Obaseki’s
Media Adviser, Crusoe Osagie, in a statement to Naijaonpoint, said
the program on Channels TV showed overwhelming evidence and data exposing the
systemic rigging and brazen subversion of the people’s will during the
September 21 governorship election.
According to the former governor’s aide, the show
must have been a difficult 30 minutes for even the most vile criminal.
He said the analysis revealed a widespread
manipulation and substantial interference in the electoral process by the
umpire, noting that the APC who is party to the robbery would rather the
findings be dismissed, distorted, or buried under a barrage of propaganda and
baseless accusations.
His statement read: “The independent analysis by the
Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, a non-partisan research institute, of
the sham of an election that installed Monday Okpebholo as governor of Edo
State clearly threw the governor-select and his godfathers into a frenzy
yesterday.
“Channels TV, in their show, Politics Today, had the
mindless and unprecedented transgressions of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) and their conspirators, the Edo All Progressives Congress
(APC) laid bare. The show must have been a difficult 30 minutes for even the
most vile criminal.
“Taunted by overwhelming evidence and data exposing
the systemic rigging and brazen subversion of the people’s will during the
September 21 governorship election, the APC, rather than covering their faces
in shame, resorted to smear campaign, lies and propaganda, in a last-ditch
effort to distract from the daylight robbery, and undermine the integrity of
revered institutions advocating for the judiciary to right the wrong of the
electoral umpire and their conspirators.
“The independent analysis broadcast yesterday is the
outcome of a forensic examination of data and documents made available to the
research institute by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It
revealed a widespread manipulation and substantial interference in the
electoral process by the umpire. But the APC who is party to the robbery would
rather the findings be dismissed, distorted, or buried under a barrage of
propaganda and baseless accusations.
“Among other things, the centre uncovered shocking
discrepancies in the election results, showing that INEC inflated the number of
accredited voters by over 100,000 in 798 polling units. They also discovered
that polling officers recorded 580,000 accredited voters, yet INEC’s backend
mysteriously produced 687,000, which further buttressed the evidence that it
deliberately tampered with the election.
“There were also glaring inconsistencies between
INEC’s certified results and the data uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal
(IReV). Specifically, the forensic analysis revealed that results of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were slashed by 11,665 votes during collation,
while 32,284 votes were illegally added to APC’s tally, showing the brazen
manipulation and fraud perpetrated against the people of Edo State during the
last governorship election.
“Unsurprisingly, as a party of electoral fraudsters,
the APC would prefer that this fraud on a massive scale is upheld and
normalized, seeking desperately to silence voices of dissent and attacking any
institution or individual who dares to speak out against this barefaced theft
of the people’s mandate.
“In their desperate quest for power at all costs, the
APC has continued to undermine democratic processes, distort the truth, and
manipulate the system to have a grip on power. This shows what the APC really
represents – a party that values personal and political gain over the interest
and will of the people, willing to subvert justice and erode the very
foundations of democracy to achieve their selfish objectives.
“While we sympathize with the APC over their trauma
from the public exposure of their electoral fraud in Edo State by the Athena
Centre, we want to restate that we will not be distracted in our resolve to
reclaim the mandate duly given by the good people of Edo State. We trust in the
impartiality of the judiciary and are confident that they will rise above the
distractions and intimidation tactics of the APC, ensuring that justice is
served and the will of the people prevails.”
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