A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, has rejected the outcome of the Edo State governorship election, claiming the result was manipulated in favour of the All Progressives Congress.
The Peoples Democratic Party chief, who hails from Igueben Local Government Area in Edo Central Senatorial District of the state, insisted the APC didn’t deserve victory in the poll.
APC’s Godwin Obaseki defeated the candidate of the PDP, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, by 319,483 to 253,173 votes.
Ikimi, in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday, said the election did not represent the wish of the people.
He said, “All I can say is that I dispute the election completely. I take the view expressed by our candidate that the outcome of the election as announced by INEC is completely at variance with what happened on the ground.
“So we dispute it completely and we will seek redress through constitutional means.”
Asked if he was surprised at the conduct of the election, he said, “I’m not totally surprised at the process of the election.
“But I take the view that INEC and all those who were responsible for the conduct of the election will abide by the attitude that is being openly expressed by President Muhammad Buhari that they should not interfere in the electoral processes.
“The president is one person who has gone through this process in the past. And he knows very well that everyone should have a free and fair election. That is why we feel this shouldn’t have been like that.
“Like I said before I abide by the position that my party has taken on the election. It is at variance with the anti-corruption stance of the Federal Government.”
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