Tobias Sylvester
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC) to court to challenge the result of votes scored by the opposition party in the governorship election in Benue State.
This is despite the fact that PDP won highest number of votes and its governorship candidate, Governor Samuel Ortom, was re-elected as governor.
But Benue PDP alleged that only irregularities could have made APC garnered the number of votes declared for it in the results of the election.
PDP said its lawyers have to challenge the result at the state’s Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, the state capital.
Disclosing this in a statement by the state publicity secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, Benue PDP said its “team of lawyers will be challenging the votes at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, following a decision of the leadership of the party after it received field reports indicating numerous irregularities perpetrated by APC during the polls.
“PDP leaders met and have concluded that given the party’s acceptance across the state, its candidate, Gov. Samuel Ortom, would certainly have posted a wider margin of votes against his closest rival, if it were not for the irregularities.”
The state PDP further argued that the results of the presidential, governorship and State Assembly elections showed “clearly that it is the preferred choice of the people of the state.”
It re-emphasised “its victory at the presidential election in the state, all the three Senators, six out of eleven House of Representatives members, while APC won just one, with other political parties winning three and one seat still declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We also won 23 out of 30 State Assembly seats leaving APC and other parties to share the remaining tiny minority.”
It also noted that all those “arrested for one election malpractice or another during the last general elections, including possession of large numbers of PVCs, weapons and large amounts of money across the state, were APC members.”
It then said, “Our cross petition will give us opportunity to provide proof that Gov. Ortom’s votes were far more than those announced by INEC while his APC opponent had far less than what was declared for him.”
