•Women protest outcome of governorship election

By Ozioruva Aliu

For the second day running, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Edo State,  has refused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, access to the Bimodal Voter Authentication System, BVAS, machines and other materials used for the September 21, governorship election.

Chairman of the Election Tribunal, Justice W. Kpoc had on September 29, granted PDP and  Ighodalo permission to inspect the materials.

This came as hundreds of Edo women, yesterday, took to the streets of Benin City, protesting the outcome of the September 21, guber poll, which they claimed was rigged in favour of the All Progressives Congress, APC, by INEC.

On Monday, the legal team for the PDP governorship candidate led by Olusegun Jolaawo, SAN, had  visited the INEC Headquarters in Benin City, the Edo State capital, to access the BIVAS machine, voters register, ballot papers and other election materials used by the electoral body for the September 21 poll, to flesh up its petition against the alleged rigging of the poll but was refused access to the materials despite presenting the court order to INEC officials.

Though they were not granted audience by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, the INEC officials who had attended to them after several hours of waiting, had directed them to return Tuesday to allow them get permission from Abuja.

The team was said to have returned yesterday, for the second time running and were unfortunately denied access to the materials.

Reacting to the situation, yesterday, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said it was a delay tactic by INEC, who was working in connivance with the APC to obstruct justice and frustrate the efforts of the PDP to regain its mandate stolen during the September 21, governorship election.

According to him, “We are aware that the clandestine and surreptitious game plan is to frustrate the PDP appeal and ensure the petition is not filed before the Saturday deadline.”

The commissioner also accused the APC of planning to burn the INEC office, so as to destroy the BVAS machines and other electoral materials in an attempt to eliminate evidence of their ‘electoral fraud.’

Reassuring that the PDP would not relent in exposing the electoral theft and regaining the mandate that was duly given to the party by the majority of Edo people during the September 21, guber poll, Nehikhare called on the Police to take charge of the INEC office to prevent the planned attack and burning of the facility and also ensure enforcement of the court order, allowing PDP to inspect the election materials.

Women protest outcome of governorship poll

The women  sympathetic to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accused INEC, and the police of complicity in the process that led to the declaration of the candidate of APC, Sen. Monday Okpebholo as winner of the election.

Armed with placards of various inscriptions, such as “Tinubu tell INEC to return our mandate,”  “INEC Why did you manipulate the IREV results,” “Edo PDP won the election but INEC and Police colluded to change it,” among others, the women chanted anti-Tinubu, anti-INEC and anti-Oshiomhole songs as they marched through the major streets of Benin City and Ring Road, the city centre.

Speaking to journalists, a PDP woman leader and former Chairman of Esan West Local Government Area of the state, Mrs. Stella Okoro said as mothers that mean well for the development of the state, it beholds on them to come out in protest and demand for the restoration of the mandate freely given to the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

She said: “We are here to protest against our stolen mandate, we are pained over the outcome of the election which was won by Asue Ighodalo. You can see that all the women are in black, we are crying to tell the world that we are mourning. Women and youths came out in large numbers and voted for Dr. Ighodalo, we want our mandate back.”

Also, Edo South PDP Senatorial Woman Leader, Pat Elabor said: “We campaigned hard and people of the state voted for us, but to our greatest surprise, they manipulated the result. We are ready to fight and ensure that our mandate must be restored to us. We have had enough of what they are doing to us, we the mothers are in pain.”