A few days ago, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) conducted primary elections for aspirants vying for various political positions, including house of assembly, national assembly, and governorship election amid supremacy battle in the state.
The election supposedly didn’t go down well from observations across the state, particularly the processes that led to the emergence of the various candidates across the 24 legislative seats, nine constituencies of the house of representatives and three senatorial districts for the general elections scheduled to hold next year.
Residents in the state earlier anticipated a calm atmosphere devoid of dissenting voices because PDP is the governing party in Edo, but their hopes were dashed as there were parallel primary elections held across the 18 local government areas and senatorial districts of the state according to bystanders.
The outcomes of the elections may not be unconnected to the controversies that surrounded the emergence of delegates for the primary election which was occasioned by the internal squabbles between Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Dan Orbih, the South-South national vice chairman of the party.
The differences between the duo led to two contrary dates for the primary election. While Tony Aziegbemi, the state chairman of the party, insisted that the election will go ahead in line with the dates announced by the national body, a new dates surfaced on the internet on the eve of the election that the primary will no longer hold as scheduled and had been shifted to Tuesday, May 24.
However, on the day of the election, both groups, now referred to as the “old PDP” and “new PDP,” simultaneously participated in the election, which commenced on Sunday, May 22, at different locations.
It was observed at different venues of the primary elections, especially locations where those who participated in the governor’s camp, that there were heavy security presence, including the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Edo State vigilante network and officials of the Edo State Public Works Volunteers.
The aggrieved group conducted theirs at an undisclosed location, claiming that there were no parallel primary elections across the state.
Speaking after the election was concluded in Egor local government area, one of the venues for the house of assembly elections, Andrew Emwanta, Edo State commissioner for communications and orientation, told newsmen that their venues were designated for the election and that is why the DSS and other security agencies were present.
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“It is allowed in politics for people to have their views. So, whatever you hear, is hearsay. This is the venue that was designated for the election, and that is why the DSS and other security agencies came here.
“I don’t think the parallel election is true because this is the designated place for the election, and the primaries have taken place. This is where INEC came to, and the process was free, fair, and credible.
“The role of the INEC is to supervise, and the electoral officer, who was designated to come monitor the election, was here earlier but left to take lunch. From his own assessment, he was very satisfied with the conduct of the election, and the results will be forwarded to INEC for their own records.
“The good thing about this election is that all party delegates were here. The party took a decision that adhoc delegates would be the one to elect house of assembly candidates and others. To that extent, it is the recognised ad hoc delegates list that they sent from Abuja that was used. The 30 ad-hoc delegates and one national delegate, who were democratically elected, were here. At the end of the process, it was transparent.
After the two-day primary election for the House of Assembly, representatives, and Senate, results began to trickle in from both camps. Legislative aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who were purportedly loyal to governor Godwin Obaseki, clinched the tickets for the various seats.
Some of them elected are incumbent house of assembly members, serving commissioners and supporters. They include but are not limited to Aisosa Amadasun and Uyi Omosigho, who were elected as PDP candidates for Oredo West and Oredo East state constituencies, respectively. While Sunny Aguebor won the ticket for the Oredo federal constituency.
In Egor and Ikpoba-Okha constituencies in the state house of assembly, Natasha Osawaru and Henry Okhuarobo, respectively, got the slots while Jude Ise-Idehen, an incumbent member representing Egor/Ikpoba-Okha federal constituency, was re-elected as the candidate.
In Edo Central, Marcus Onobun, Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, clinched the ticket for Esan West/Esan Central/Igueben Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Similarly, in Edo North, Kabiru Adjoto, a former speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, emerged as the candidate for the Akoko-Edo Federal constituency. While Yekini Idaiye, a serving legislative member, emerged as a candidate for Akoko-Edo constituency I in Edo State House of Assembly.
In addition, Otse Momoh-Omorogbe, Edo State commissioner for budget and economic planning, emerged the party’s candidate for Etsako West constituency I. While Jimoh Ijegbai, deputy chief of staff to Edo State deputy governor, won the seat for Owan federal constituency.
The situation was not different from the senatorial election that held the next day except Matthew Urhoghide, a two-time senator, representing Edo South senatorial district in the national assembly, who lost his re-election bid to Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, former house of assembly member and Ex-NDDC commissioner, Edo State.
Simultaneously, in Orbih’s camp, candidates also emerged as standard-bearers for the same positions, making it two candidates each contesting for a position within the same party, a scenario that can be likened to that of what happened in the Zamfara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In 2019, the internal wrangling in the Zamfara State APC culminated at the Supreme Court, which ruled that the party did not conduct valid primaries in the build-up to the elections and ordered that the candidate with the second highest number of votes be declared winner of the election.
The court further declared that a party that had no valid candidate could not be said to have emerged winners of the general elections.
In a related development, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, last week, stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission from recognising or accepting ad hoc delegates produced by a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State.
The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, declared that only ad hoc delegates provided by Dan Orbih’s faction of the party were authentic and must be recognised.
Delivering judgment in a suit, marked FHC/Abj/ CS/598/2022, which was instituted by 581 delegates through their five representatives, who were elected on April 30, Justice Ekwo said that the PDP and other defendants in the suit were bound by Section 84 (5) of the Electoral Act 2022 as well as Section 15 of the PDP Constitution relating to delegates’ elections.
The court further held that the role of INEC in primary election, congress and convention monitoring are statutory and constitutional and must, therefore, be strictly adhered to by all political parties.
Corroborating, Adams Aliu, a Benin-based constitutional lawyer, told BusinessDay Sunday, that the constitution is clear that INEC is the arbiter of primary elections, and if they don’t witness any primaries or general elections, it is null and void.
“In Edo, there were two parallel elections as it were. The Electoral Act 2022 is clear that INEC will have to monitor the elections before the election is regarded as valid because they are the regulatory body.
“The court will use the constitutional provision and electoral act to decide. The matter is in court and it will be premature and judgmental to say who is right. The court process is a civilised way of doing things if you think your rights have been trespassed on,” Aliu said.
The legal practitioner said the court is the last hope of the common man and anybody who is dissatisfied with the outcomes of the electoral process should approach the court to seek redress rather than taking laws into their hands.
