…Stance Contradicts State Chapter’s
By Dayo Omoogun
The Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress Mai Mala Buni, made the concession in a statement titled, Edo State Governorship Election: Victory for Democracy, which he signed.
The concession came 24 hours after the declaration of Obaseki as the winner by INEC and is believed to enjoy the President’s approval as it was made after a closed-door engagement between the party bigwigs which included Mai Mala Buni and Ganduje the Campaign Council Chairman, and the President, at the State House.
The State Chapter had earlier rejected the results saying it was fraught with irregularities.
In a tone that sounds like taking the results in good faith and moving ahead as well as overruling the State chapter’s position, the statement said Edo State Governorship election is over, the winner has been declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the person of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, candidate of the People Democratic Party.
He went on: We hereby congratulate the winner of the election, the people of Edo State and all Nigerians. The peaceful conduct of the election and its outcome represent a victory for Nigeria’s democracy
As a party, we join our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, to affirm our commitment to free and fair elections in order to strengthen the foundation for our political and moral authority.
“We commend INEC, our security agencies and all political parties that contested the election for the successful conduct of the election. As a governing party, we will take every step necessary to support the Federal Government to consolidate all the gains achieved.“