The Edo State Government and the immediate past administration are at loggerheads over revelations by former aviation minister, Osita Chidoka regarding the state governorship election on September 21.
Chidoka, during a programme on Channels Television on Friday, criticised the conduct of the election, alleging that it was rigged.
In response, Governor Monday Okpehbolo’s Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, in a statement released Saturday, said Chidoka’s Athena Centre did not cover substantial parts of the state during the election.
He stated further that representatives of the Athena Centre were stationed at the Edo State Government House under the supervision of former Governor Godwin Obaseki to manipulate figures.
He said, “On Friday, 29th of November, 2024, Osita Chidoka decided to throw his toys around on behalf of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, as bad losers do. In a well-orchestrated plot hatched by the PDP, in connivance with a serial defector featherweight politician from Anambra State, Osita Chidoka, they tried to bully and blackmail the judiciary into circumventing the will of Edo people.
The shameful display, which was unfortunately aired on a once-respected national television, Channels TV, reeled out numbers purchased from ‘Oluwole Market,’ and impetuously concluded that the 21st September governorship election in Edo State was rigged.
“Unfortunately, Osita Chidoka’s Athena Centre did not cover the election in substantial parts of the state. They sat in Edo State Government House under the supervision of ex-Governor Godwin Obaseki to concoct and orchestrate figures and numbers to suit their mindset.
“First, the factional chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party in Edo State is blind to the glaring reality that the party was spurned by Edo people in the last governorship election because of their weakness as their own enemies.
“Overlooking its messy and divided house, the party is shopping for non-existent evidence to upturn the popular will of the people at the Tribunal. What exactly is the intention or benefit of orchestrating a media trial, as Mr. Chidoka has done? It amounts to deliberate ambush.
“Even though the PDP and its hatchet man understand that discussing an issue that is sub-judicial is wrong, they are unremitting in their shambolic plot to supplant facts with concoctions, hoping to arrive at their premeditated end.
“This case is already in the tribunal; it should be allowed to run its full course without inhibitions. Thankfully, courts do not pander to concoctions, prevarication, sentiments, red herrings, contradictions, and orchestrations but rely on evidence and facts.
“We are hopeful that the judiciary will remain firm in the face of this blackmail, intimidation, and orchestrated media attacks.
“The recent attempt by the PDP and their serial defector, Osita Chidoka, to arm-twist logic and employ demagoguery to whip up sentiments amounts to the last cry of a bull as the butcher’s knife serrates its chord; and nothing more.
“We are aware that former Governor Godwin Obaseki and some PDP leaders in Edo State, along with their supporters, held a meeting during the week with online merchants and editors of leading newspapers, where it was decided that media trial would be their pattern to discredit the credible Edo election of 21st September.
“The truth of the matter is that INEC conducted a very free, fair, and violence-free election acknowledged by domestic observers in their reports. Even the PDP leadership in Edo State, in its review and report, acknowledged that the APC won the election. The latest drama by Osita Chidoka amounts to merely beating about the bush, trying to rake up mud against the election. The PDP should allow the tribunal to do its job in line with established procedures.
“We can see that they have recourse to social media, national newspapers, and pliable television stations to push their ugly narratives that Governor Okpehbolo did not win the 21st September governorship election in Edo State.
“By this, we make them aware that Governor Monday Okpehbolo is making good progress in office as the duly elected governor with an irrevocable mandate for the next four years.”
However, media aide to Obaseki, Crusoe Osagie, said the revelation clearly threw the Edo State governor and his allies into a frenzy.
He said, “The independent analysis by the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, a non-partisan research institute, of the sham election that installed Monday Okpehbolo as governor of Edo State clearly threw the governor and his godfathers into a frenzy.
“Channels TV, in their show, Politics Today, laid bare the mindless and unprecedented transgressions of the Independent National Electoral Commission and their conspirators, the Edo All Progressives Congress. The show must have been a difficult 30 minutes even for the most vile criminal.
“Taunted by overwhelming evidence and data exposing the systemic rigging and brazen subversion of the people’s will during the September 21 governorship election, the APC, rather than covering their faces in shame, resorted to a smear campaign, lies, and propaganda to distract from the daylight robbery and undermine the integrity of institutions advocating for the judiciary to right the wrong of the electoral umpire and their conspirators.
“The independent analysis broadcast yesterday is the outcome of a forensic examination of data and documents made available to the research institute by the Independent National Electoral Commission. It revealed widespread manipulation and substantial interference in the electoral process by the umpire. But the APC, a party to the robbery, would rather have the findings dismissed, distorted, or buried under a barrage of propaganda and baseless accusations.
“Among other things, the centre uncovered shocking discrepancies in the election results, showing that INEC inflated the number of accredited voters by over 100,000 in 798 polling units. They also discovered that polling officers recorded 580,000 accredited voters, yet INEC’s backend mysteriously produced 687,000, further buttressing evidence of deliberate tampering with the election.
“There were glaring inconsistencies between INEC’s certified results and the data uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV). Specifically, the forensic analysis revealed that PDP’s results were slashed by 11,665 votes during collation, while 32,284 votes were illegally added to APC’s tally, demonstrating the brazen manipulation and fraud perpetrated against the people of Edo State during the last governorship election.
“While we sympathise with the APC over their trauma from the public exposure of their electoral fraud in Edo State by the Athena Centre, we restate our resolve to reclaim the mandate duly given by the good people of Edo State.
“We trust in the impartiality of the judiciary and are confident they will rise above the distractions and intimidation tactics of the APC, ensuring justice is served and the will of the people prevails.”