The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday, revealed that the ruling party was motivated to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, in Saturday’s election following the provocative remark made by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
Obaseki, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, declared that the election would be a ‘do-or-die’ affair, expressing his fear that the people of Edo would be doomed if the APC regained control of the state.
Addressing journalists at the APC secretariat in Abuja, Ganduje explained that the governor’s inflammatory remark, instead of creating pressure, inspired their supporters to prove him wrong by voting overwhelmingly for Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate.
According to Ganduje, Obaseki was once part of the APC until his defection to the PDP, taking the mandate with him.
The APC national chairman stated that, in contrast to Obaseki’s ‘do-or-die’ stance, the APC promoted a ‘do-and-succeed’ ideology, which ultimately paid off.
He said, “This exercise (Edo governorship election) was challenging because we faced several obstacles. We had a governor (Obaseki) who used to be one of us. We are children of the same father but with different mothers, competing against each other. So, we didn’t part on good terms. He left our party for the PDP, and the battle continued until yesterday (Sunday), when we successfully reclaimed power.
“Even before the election, one side was already overheating the polity. He (Obaseki) said it was a ‘do-or-die’ election. But we said ‘No’; ours would be ‘do-and-succeed’. Because if you die, who will introduce your successor? So, we are here to thank all stakeholders.”
He added, “From what transpired, we will use the results,
voting patterns, successes, and failures in different units to strengthen the APC institution, which is driven by knowledge. The South East has five states, but two of them belong to our big party, the APC. We will see how we can recover more states in our favour. I now formally close the Edo election situation room.”
The former Kano governor also expressed gratitude to the security agencies for maintaining law and order during the election.
He thanked the APC governors who showed solidarity with the governor-elect and supported the party during the election process.
Monday Okpebholo of the APC was declared the winner of the Edo governorship election, having secured 291,667 votes, defeating his closest challenger, Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, who received 22,763 votes.
