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Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stated on Monday that the party’s motivation to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, stemmed from provocative comments made by Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki.
While appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Obaseki described the election as a “life or death” event, and expressed fears that Edo people would be devastated if the APC regained control of the state. Ganduje explained that this statement encouraged APC supporters to vote overwhelmingly for their candidate, Monday Okpebholo.
Speaking to journalists at the APC secretariat in Abuja, Ganduje said, “Even before the election, one side was already heating up politics. He (Obaseki) said it was a ‘life or death’ election. But we said ‘No’; our election is ‘life or death.’ Because if you die, who will introduce your successor? So, we are here to thank all stakeholders.”
Read also: PDP rejects Edo election results, plans lawsuit
He noted that Obaseki was once part of the APC before defecting to the PDP, and brought the mandate with him. “This Edo governorship election is challenging because we are facing some obstacles. We have a governor (Obaseki) who was once one of us. We are children of the same father but different mothers, and we are competing against each other,” Ganduje added.
He stressed the importance of using the election results to strengthen the APC, saying, “From what happened, we will use the results, voting patterns, successes and failures in the various units to strengthen the institutions of the APC, driven by knowledge.”
Ganduje expressed gratitude to security agencies for maintaining law and order during the election and thanked APC governors for their solidarity with the governor-elect. Okpebholo was declared the winner of the Edo governorship election, with 291,667 votes, beating Ighodalo who got 247,274 votes and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata who got 22,763 votes.
Ganduje Post: Obaseki’s ‘life or death’ comment triggered Ighodalo’s defeat appeared first on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.
