Edo Gov Poll: Fresh Crisis in APC as Aspirant Dakeri Drags INEC to Court

A new crisis has emerged in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as an aggrieved governorship aspirant in Edo State, Hon. Anamero Sunday Dekeri, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to be declared the authentic candidate for the impending election in the state.

Dekeri, a serving member of the House of Representatives, filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC, alleging that he was the valid winner of the governorship primary election conducted by the party on February 17.

He claimed that he was declared the winner by the Local Government Returning Officer, Mr. Ojo Babatunde, who collated the authentic results from the polling units.

According to Dekeri, he garnered a total of 25,384 votes, defeating his closest rival, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, who scored 14,127 votes.

The plaintiff argued that the rescheduled primary election held on February 22, which was declared in favor of Senator Monday Okpebholo, should be declared invalid, wrongful, and illegal.

He also requested the court to restrain INEC from recognizing or publishing Okpebholo’s name as a bonafide candidate for the Edo state gubernatorial election.

Dekeri cited a decided case-law in Ojukwu V. Military Governor of Lagos State & It’s (1985)LPELR-21274 (CA), asserting that INEC is legally bound from recognizing any candidate of the APC for the election, pending the conclusion of the case.

The suit comes after a series of controversies surrounding the primary election results. Initially, the Local Government Returning Officer announced Dekeri as the winner, while the party’s primary election committee led by the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, declared Idahosa as the winner.

The committee reported that Idahosa, also a member of the House of Representatives, had polled 40,483 votes to defeat all the other aspirants.

However, due to the disputes, the APC declared the primary election as inconclusive and later held a re-run poll, which led to the emergence of Senator Okpebholo as the party’s flag-bearer.

The matter is yet to be assigned a date for hearing at the Federal High Court in Abuja.