Edo2020: APC alleges foul play, to decide on next step

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State has alleged foul play in the September 19, 2020 governorship election, but called on party members to stay calm, while the leaders study the result and decide what is next.

This was contained in a statement by the Chairman of the APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki, on Sunday.

The party rejected the result, citing alleged strong-arm tactics.

“Our people were arbitrarily arrested, many of the figures were fabricated,” said the terse statement, which the party described as only a preliminary reaction.

It further alleged illicit tampering with results to shore up the Peoples Democratic Party numbers and mark down APC’s.

It said: “Areas where we won, they cancelled them. They decreased the votes in areas we had advantage,” the party further claimed. “They rejected our results and jerked up theirs.”

Meanwhile, the party also claimed there was arbitrary arrest of local party members, who could have resisted the outrage, while Governor Godwin Obaseki was busy diverting attention with false alarm.

“Obaseki shouted that he was being rigged out and blamed INEC at the initial stage but that was to divert attention from the evil going on in the field,” the statement said.

The party, however, told its members to stay calm, thanking them for their support.

It added that party leaders were studying the result and would announce their decision and course of action as soon as possible.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Obaseki as the winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in Edo State.

President Muhammadu Buhari, elected on the platform of the APC, has since congratulated Obaseki.