The All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo chapter on Sunday rejected the result of the Edo Governorship Election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Benin on Sunday.
Chairman of the Edo APC Media Campaign Council, Mr John Mayaki, said in a statement that the party rejected the result, citing alleged strong arm tactics in the process.
“Our people were arbitrarily arrested; many of the figures were fabricated.
“Areas where we won, they cancelled them; they decreased the votes in areas we had advantage. They rejected our results and jerked up theirs,” Mayaki said.
According to him, the election was characterised by arbitrary arrests of local party members who could have resisted the outrage, while Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo was busy diverting attention with false alarm.
“Obaseki shouted that he was being rigged out and blamed INEC at the initial stage but that was to divert attention from the evil going on in the field,” Mayaki said.
He, however, thanked the APC loyalists for the support and urged them to remain calm as the party leaders were studying the result and would soon announce their decision and course of action. (NAN)
More troops, police deployed to Kaduna Airport Road, other strategic locations
At the instance of Governor Nasir El-Rufai, troops of the Nigerian Army and police operatives have been deployed to Kaduna Airport Road on Sunday in Kaduna.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deployment also covers some strategic locations, where aggressive operations by troops and police are in progress.
The deployment was aimed at beefing up security around the Kaduna Airport Road, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road Roundabout and the Nigerian Defence Academy Road.
The Nigerian Air Force will retain the duty of securing the immediate premises of the Kaduna Airport, its staff quarters and other critical aviation assets in the airport.
A meeting was held between the state government, the Army, Police, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and community leaders at Kutungare village, Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
At the meeting, Gov. El-Rufai, represented by Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, challenged the community leaders to cooperate with the newly deployed troops and operatives.
“We are here to see for ourselves the ongoing aggressive fighting patrols by the newly deployed troops and police operatives in these locations.
“This will complement the Nigerian Air Force, who are working in the immediate airport environment, while the troops and operatives cover the general area,” the governor said.
In his remarks, the Garrison Commander, 1 Division Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen Olusegun Abai, said communities have roles to play in enhancing security through information sharing and working harmoniously with security agencies.
He added that the army will be open to the communities in line with the principles of civil-military relations.
El-Rufia commended the Army for deploying troops to Juji village in Chikun LGA, following security challenges in the village and adjoining communities on the Kaduna Eastern Bypass.
The governor also praised the community leaders for their support to security agencies and the government.
He charged them to sustain the security information sharing mechanism in place, and also urged recourse to the law by aggrieved individuals and groups. (NAN)
