Senator Monday Okpebholo was named the winner of a parallel Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary poll.
On Saturday, the APC State Returning Officer, Ogbuaja Stanley Uzoamaka, proclaimed Senator Okpebholo the winner of the exercise held in Benin City, the capital of Edo state.
His announcement came shortly after Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, who heads the APC electoral committee in Edo State, declared Dennis Idahosa the winner of the elections.
But the group has dismissed Uzodimma’s declaration, maintaining that the Imo governor’s post is only ceremonial.
The election conducted by the Uzodimma group was marred by disruption from suspected thugs who stormed the results collation venue in the GRA area of Edo State.
They threw away chairs and cameras mounted by journalists, a development that saw APC officials and pressmen scampering for safety.
The drama forced the election officials to change the venue of the collation exercise.
However, Governor Uzodimma explained that there was a mixup about the collation venue, maintaining that his declaration of Idahosa as the winner of the election was done in the right venue.
Also, the APC has distanced itself from the parallel primary and endorsed the election conducted by the Uzodimma-led group.
“We wish to state categorically that only the Governor Hope Uzodinma-Led Edo State APC Governorship Primary Election Committee is duly authorised to undertake the final collation and announcement of results of the Primary Election in the State,” the party’s national spokesman Felix Morka said.
“We urge all party members, officials in the State, and the general public to disregard the said announcement of results by these unauthorized persons.”
Saturday’s election was the culmination of activities that saw the clearing of 12 candidates for the election. But the party’s flagbearer in the 2020 governorship election Osagie Ize-Iyamu pulled out of this year’s primary poll on the eve of the exercise.