…aspirants in last minute scramble for votes
From Ndubuisi Orji, Benin
The screening of delegates for today’s Edo State gubernatorial primaries of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has ended.
The delegates were screened at three different centres in the Benin City.
While delegates from Edo South were screened at Agbado Primary School, delegates from Edo North and Central were screened at Imaguero College and George Idah Primary School respectively.
Although the screening was scheduled to begin at 8 am, it could not begin until much later in the day. When Daily Sun visited the screening centres at about 9 am, most of the delegates were still arriving.
The various centres were manned by haevily armed security personnel drawn from the Nigerian Police Force and Department of State Security(DSS).
After, the screening, the delegates were driven in buses to the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, venue of the primaries. Once, in they are not expected to leave the venue until after they have voted.
Meanwhile, the frontline aspirants were engaged in a last ditch effort to woo the delegates.
Unconfirmed sources say the aspirant paid N100000 to N160000 to delegates to vote for them.
Recall that as early as last Monday, the aspirants had started camping delegates perceived to be with them in various hotels in Benin, while they made frantic efforts to break into the camps of their opponents, with the aim of poaching from their supporters.
The voting proper is expected to start shortly.