A nominee into the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the South-South zone, Mr. Charles Idahosa, on Tuesday said that the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) which validated the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was expected and cautioned on the negative effects of social media to use the new-age communication to shape decisions of the courts.
Idahosa who addressed a press conference as part of the activities to mark his 70th birthday anniversary which comes up on September 21, 2023, noted that in his over 40 years in politics, the 2023 general election remained the toughest, as the election itself was the first victim of the negative effects of the social media which served as an avenue to churn out unverifiable information.
The PDP chieftain added that in spite of the criticisms that had trailed the verdict of the PEPT in some quarters, the verdict should be commended for settling the issue of the status of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which before the verdict, projected residents of the federal capital as being superior to other Nigerians in other localities.
The former Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole for the eight years of the former labour leader as the governor of Edo State, noted that those who were disappointed at the verdict of the PEPT were those who relied on the social media and the unverifiable information the platform disseminated, which could not stand the rigors of the judicial processes that culminated in the verdict.
“The judgment of the PEPT was a perfect one; and that is what I thought would happen. This election is the first victim of social media. A lot of things have been said that did not make sense. There were too many sentiments, and so many frivolous allegations here and there. A judgment that was delivered for over 13 hours containing all the details. It was clear as daylight, I don’t know what they wanted.
“I started losing confidence in some lawyers; some of them just want to collect the money from politicians. As a layman, I know that there is nothing in those cases brought before the tribunal.
“I have been participating in elections for over 40 years. This last election was the toughest, I couldn’t win my area. So, when I see people abusing INEC it amazes me. An election where 10 sitting governors could not win senate seats and you say the election was not fair? It was a free and fair election because, with the BIVAS, you cannot manipulate the number of people who come to vote unlike before when politicians would manipulate the number of voters who did not come out to vote but now, that is not possible anymore,” Idahosa intoned.
Speaking on the 2024 governorship election, Idahosa said the Edo Central Senatorial District people clamouring to be given the slot should work for it and don’t expect others to fold their arms.
Idahosa added that given the previous experience in the past, there was no time aspirants from the three senatorial districts did not put forward candidates for the governorship seat, and counselled that it would be easier for Edo Central to have the slot if all the politicians in the district would lobby the three major political parties, the PDP, the All Progressive Congress (APC), and the Labour Party (LP), to pick their candidates from the district.
“Politics is a game of numbers, and nobody can dictate to us about where the next governor will come from. This time around, it is going to be a homeboy; there will be no importation. There is not going to be the issue of whether he is very smart and intelligent, nor he is a magician in Lagos or has an oil company in Port Harcourt. He must be one of us that we all eat together, that knows every mama put corner in this town. We will all be here; we are not importing anybody again. He must be one of us,” Idahosa reiterated.
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