Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

The Benue State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), says it has nothing to worry about the case filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Emmanuel Jime, against the party and Governor Samuel Ortom.

In a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Bemgbah Iortyom, the PDP said “Jime has the constitutional right to his action since all our victories in the state were genuine and the product of the popular support and mandate of the people.”

In turn, the PDP said it had decided to challenge the result of votes obtained by the APC candidate at the 2019 governorship election in the state.

Iortyom disclosed that the party’s team of lawyers would be challenging those votes at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, following a decision of the leadership of the party after it received field reports indicating numerous irregularities perpetrated by APC during the polls.

“From the reports, PDP leaders met and have concluded that given the party’s acceptance across the state, its candidate, Gov. Samuel Ortom, would certainly have posted a wider margin of votes against his closest rival, if it were not for the irregularities.

“The party also notes that the results of the presidential, governorship, national, and state Assembly elections indicated clearly that PDP was the preferred choice of the people of the state.

“PDP re-emphasizes its victory at the presidential election in the state, all the three senators, six out of 11 House of Representatives members, while APC won just one, with other political parties winning three and one seat still declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

While noting that the PDP won 23 out of 30 state Assemblies seats leaving APC and other parties to share the remainder, the party stated that, “our cross-petition will give us the opportunity to provide proof that Gov. Ortom’s votes were far more than those announced by INEC while his APC opponent had far less than what was declared for him.”