APC primaries: Ogiemwonyi, Imansuangbon reject result

TWO aspirants who contested the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday, Chris Ogiemwonyi and Kenneth Imansuangbon, have rejected the results of the election, describing it as a rape of democracy.

The duo, who addressed journalists at Chris Ogiemwonyi campaign office in Benin, called on the national leadership of the APC to order a repeat of last Saturday’s primaries due to what they termed electronic rigging of the poll.

They also requested for a forensic analysis of the ballot papers used on Saturday and the finger prints, pointing out that the primaries were not in tandem with the standards set by President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC national chairman, Chief Odigie Oyegun.

They alleged that the ballot papers used for the exercise were printed in Benin by someone they said was loyal to one of the aspirants in the race, adding that organisers of the primaries made sure it got into the night so as to carry out their plan.

They also brought a person, who demonstrated how burnt paper could be used to reveal what is written underneath a plain ballot papers.

In a jointly signed statement, they said smuggling of non delegates into the venue of the primaries to vote was a sign of desperate measures by Governor Oshiomhole and his agent.

“They were successful in this bid because Edo State government was in full control of the venue of the primaries. The open and direct interference into the voting process by the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on several occasions made some aspirants to protest,” they stated.