Legal fireworks have commenced over issues of eligibility or otherwise of the incumbent governor of Edo State and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)in the just concluded September 19 governorship poll, Mr Godwin Obaseki.
This is as the governorship candidate of the ADP in the September 19 poll, Mr Iboyi Emmanuel, is set to challenge the outcome of the election that produced Governor Obaseki as winner at the Election Petitions Tribunal.
Mr Emmanuel who spoke through ADP National Chairman Yabagi Yusuf Sani at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja said he and his party are determined to challenge the governor’s victory and eligibility up to the highest courts in the land on election matters.
Sani argued that his decision to take the legal option is aimed at strengthening democratic rule and the principles of transparency and rule of law in our electoral process.
The ADP National Chairman said the party believed that the court should determine the propriety, qualification and appropriateness of Governor Obaseki’s educational certificates and the process that led to his selection as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the poll.
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He said: “The questions are very simple. Can a candidate buy nomination forms from two parties in the same election cycle? Can a student get into a university with just three Credits and without Mathematics and English?
“Can a political party shift the date of the sales of its nomination forms after giving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the public a date? Can a political party extend the date of its primaries with just five days’ notice to INEC when the Electoral Act stipulates seven days? Can a dead and buried Vice Chancellor sign a student’s result and date it after his death?”
“Most importantly, if any of these issues is resolved in the negative, can the PDP be said to have fielded a candidate in the Edo State governorship election?
“We should all be thankful to our candidate, Iboyi Emmanuel, who has gone to court to ask these fundamental questions on behalf of Nigerians. The man will end up deepening our democracy.
“This country shouldn’t be about political parties; it should be about laws, justice and equity. I want to assure you that we are ready to prosecute this matter to a logical conclusion until justice is done to the great people of Edo State.”
