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A
former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige; the All Progressives
Grand Alliance and the Action Congress in Osun State have hailed the
judgment of the Edo State Election Tribunal which declared the AC
governorship candidate, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, as the winner of the April
14, 2007 governorship election.
Ngige,
who spoke in an interview in Enugu, expressed happiness over the verdict.
He also described it as the next best thing to happen to democracy in the
country. He said the party would capture other states, including Kogi,
Anambra and Adamawa, as a mark of its acceptance and popularity in the
country.
The
AC, he added, had been vindicated by the verdict, which he said showed that
the 2007 elections were a sham. He also advised the Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Maurice Iwu to quit
office.
The
factional APGA National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, who congratulated
Oshiomhole while reacting to the verdict, said it had shown the need for
Iwu’s removal. He said, “The upturning of the governorship election
conducted in Edo State on April 14, 2007 has once more vindicated our
strongly held belief that the 2007 elections were a grand fraud unleashed
on hapless Nigerians by INEC.”
He
said that the verdict had added to the gale of reversal of election results
announced by INEC and the nullification of many elections conducted by the
commission in 2007. Umeh, who said that the INEC boss would have since
resigned if Nigeria were to be a civilised democracy, however, renewed his
call on Nigerians not to relent in their demand for Iwu’s removal as a
measure to remedying the bad situation.
Speaking
on the purported pardon granted the former Biafran leader, Ikemba Odumegwu
Ojukwu, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and himself by the founding
chairman of APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, Umeh said
that party chieftains were shocked to find that “a sinner is forgiving the
innocent.”
Umeh
said “It does not lie in the mouth of Chekwas Okorie to pardon any member
of APGA as he is the one that desperately needs forgiveness having wronged
the party and its members by his several gross anti-party activities.”
In a
related development the Osun State AC has hailed the victory of the party’s
Edo State governorship candidate. A statement by the Osun State AC Chairman,
Mr Moshood Adeoti, and the state secretary, Chief Gboyega Famodun, on
Thursday, in Osogbo, said the ruling of
the
tribunal represented victory for the country’s democracy. It said, “We
appeal to all Nigerians who were robbed in April 2007 elections and who
have put their hope in the judiciary not to despair as it is clear that
their hope is not misplaced.”
The
All Nigeria Peoples Party candidate in the April 2007 election in Edo
State, Mr. Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula, said the verdict of the tribunal
corroborated his long held view that there was no election in Edo State. He
told Saturday Punch on Friday in Benin that if the tribunal had to deduct
close to 200,000 votes to arrive at what it considered the valid votes,
then it meant that most of what took place was a fraud. Also, the Benin
National Congress has congratulated Oshiomhole. Its
President, Mr. Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, said, “We congratulate Adams
Oshiomhole, for his resourcefulness and faith in democracy because he
refused to employ violence and patiently relied in the rule of law.”
Similarly,
the Labour and Civil Society Coalition thanked the tribunal over its
“laudable judgment in declaring Oshiomhole as winner of the election.” Its
state secretary, Mr. Tony Erha, said, “Edo and the Nigerian electorate have
cause to cheer and have hope that our democracy would now translate to good
quality governance and attainment of rule of law. It also means that the
voice of the people will now count in the democracy process.”
The
Chairman of the Osunbor faction of the PDP, Mr. Edward Sadoh, said the
party would not comment now until it had studied the verdict. But the
Chairman of the Chief Tony Anenih faction of the party, Chief Dan Orbih,
said on Thursday that it was a sad day for Edo people because the tribunal
had upturned the hard work of the party.
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