Idahosa protests repeat primary election, says it was selection

Kangmwa GofwenFebruary 25, 20241 Mins read544

Dennis Idahosa, one of the All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirants in Edo State, has led a protest to the party secretariat demanding “justice” in the just concluded party primary election.

Idahosa, initially announced as the election winner by the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, threatened to take legal action against the party, claiming he was the substantial candidate in the September 2024 governorship election.

The February 17, 2024, primary was cancelled by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), and they appointed Cross River State Governor Bassey Out to carry out another primary election, which brought Monday Okpebholo as the new winner.

Idahosa said what they did at the repeat primary, which was held on February 22, was selection. He challenged a local government returning officers to present photos of the collation process, but he couldn’t.

Okpebholo scored 12 433 votes to defeat the other eleven aspirants. Idahosa polled 6,541 votes. According to Otu, the Chairman of the Revised APC Edo Gubernatorial Election Committee, 41,784 votes were cast in the primary.

Meanwhile, the NWC has accepted reports of the repeat election. The party Chairperson, Abdullahi Ganduje, said the first process was marred by some irregularities, which led to the announcement of three candidates as winners.

Ganduje said the NWC, after receiving the reports for the previous primary election, discovered it still needed to be concluded; hence, it was declared inconclusive and mandated the committee to go back and complete the process.