Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state is at war with itself and every other stakeholder in the electoral process.
The governor, who said this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, noted that the opposition party is either raining insults on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or heaping invectives on political opponents.
“The desperation displayed by leaders of APC in Benue State in the build up to the supplementary election is despicable, but quite understandable, as their defeat is inevitable and certain. They now sound like a loose cannon ready to assault anyone in sight.
Ortom wondered why a political party, which initially hailed INEC’s decision to declare the March 9 governorship election inconclusive, is no longer showing interest in the supplementary election, and, instead, calling for cancellation of results in some local government areas where the polls were certified by INEC as free, fair and credible.
“It is contradictory and unreasonable for the party to say that governor Ortom, who maintains an unassailable lead of 81,554, would want to disrupt the supplementary election.
“We advise APC to stick to campaign of issues and refrain from their current bazaar of insults on opponents. It is also honourable to accept defeat in good faith as power comes from God, who gives it to whoever He wills through the people,” he said.
Regardless, the INEC has disclosed that only 109, 733 prospective voters have collected their PVCs and are eligible to vote, out of the 121,299 eligible voters in the affected local government areas.
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benue, Dr Nentawe Yilwatda, who made this known during the stakeholders meeting organised by the commission, on Wednesday, said the governorship supplementary election will hold in 22 out of 23 local governments, while the State House of Assembly will hold in nine local governments.
Meanwhile, Benue State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has enjoined the Federal Government to be neutral and not interfere in the supplementary elections scheduled to hold in Benue, this weekend.
Speaking at a press conference, in Makurdi, yesterday, state CAN Chairman, Rev. Akpen Leva, urged the federal government “not to subvert the collective will of the Benue people, but allow the will of God to prevail in the elections.”
CAN also called on INEC to be an unbiased umpire, by not bowing to external or internal pressure to doctor results in favour of any contestant or political party.