APC in Edo state was thrown into confusion on Saturday as two governorship candidates emerged winners of the All Progressives Congress primary election for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.
Member of House of Representatives, Hon Dennis Idahosa, was earlier announced winner by the Chairman, APC Primary Election Committee and governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, in Benin City while Senator Monday Okpebholo was declared winner by the Returning Officer for the election, Dr. Stanley Ugboaje, at the residence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
Hon. Idahosa, according to results declared by Uzodimma, scored 40,453 votes in one of the parallel primaries to emerge winner while in the other, Sen. Monday Okpebholo polled 12,145 votes to defeat other contestants in the returning officer’s declared results.
Governor Uzodimma, while announcing the results, said the election was peaceful across the 18 local government areas and 192 wards, and that Idahosa polled 40,453 votes to emerge winner while Engr. Gideon Ikhine came second with 700 votes.
“Therefore, Dennis Idahosa, having scored the highest votes cast, is hereby declared winner of the primary and returned as the candidate of the party for the Edo Governorship Election,” he said.
Similarly, the Returning Officer for the election, Dr. Stanley Ugboaje, announcing the results in the second primary, said Monday Okpebholo had emerged winner with 12,145 votes while Idahosa came second with 5,536 votes.
“I hereby certified that Monday Okpebholo, having scored the highest votes, is declared winner and duly returned as APC candidate for the election,” Ugboaje said
Meanwhile, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has issued a disclaimer to what it described as unauthorized announcements on national television stations of the results of the election.
It disagreed with some reports from Benin which suggested that two different names were announced as candidates of the party.
National Publicity Secretary, Barr Felix Morka, said the party would not accept results or declarations from unauthorized persons.
Part of the statement read: “The attention of the National Working Committee of our great Party has been drawn to a live broadcast on major national television stations and online news outlets of results of the ongoing Edo State APC Governorship Primary Election by some unauthorized persons
“We wish to state categorically that only the Governor Hope Uzodinma-Led Edo State APC Governorship Primary Election Committee is duly authorized to undertake final collation and announcement of results of the Primary Election in the State.
“We urge all Party members, officials in the State, and the general public to disregard the said announcement of results by these unauthorized persons.”
