The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has filed a petition to challenge the outcome of the September 21 governorship election,which saw the election of Monday Ighodalo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The State chairman of the party, Tony Aziegbemi, disclosed this to journalists at the partyโs secretariat on Monday.
Aziegbemi also carpeted the police for allegedly collecting a cumulative sum of N64m for the release of PDP members arrested in the wake of the violence that erupted along Airport Road in July.
The violence led to the death of a policeman attached to then APC candidate.
He also claimed that there were plans to arrest another set of its members apparently to demoralise the party from pursuing its mandate reclamation cause in the court just as he accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police of colluding with the APC to claim victory in the election.
โWe have filed our petition before the Election Tribunal on your behalf. I assure you that the journey to reclaim our mandate has begun and by the grace of God, your mandate will be returned.
โIn spite of INECโs feeble attempt to deny us full complements of our request for CTC of all electoral materials, being the political wing of the APC, we were still able to do the needful.โ
He denied that the party disrupted the inspection of electoral materials at the INEC office, even when they needed the materials to support their petition.
โThat PDP is disrupting the inspection of materials at the INEC Office. In whose interest is the disruption? We applied to the court for inspection and the court granted us an enrolled order to inspect. Why would we want to disrupt the process?โ he queried.
Aziegbemi who disclosed that more of their members have been arrested after the election, added that those arrested over the killing of Inspector Akor Onu, alleged that the โpolice have shamelessly released our members after collecting cumulatively about 64m Naira ostensibly for bail, but we are told that bail is free.
โHow low can the police go under this patently biassed IGP heading the armed wing of the APC.โ