From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Edo State chapter of the Labour Party (LP) has denied any political romance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (both in the state) with the view of trading the chances of the state house of assembly candidates for both parties.
The state chairman of the party, Kelly Agbaloi, made the denial while speaking with newsmen in Benin.
He said the information reaching the party indicated that the PDP members have been having a secret meeting with the LP house of assembly candidates.
Agbaloi said, while such a move cannot be ruled out due to their defeat in the last Saturday’s presidential and the national assembly polls, the LP is not going to give in, rather they would go to the polls and win.
“Information reaching the hierarchy of the Labour Party is that the PDP has been engaged in a last-minute manoeuvring, running nocturnal meetings and seeking ways to meet Labour Party House of Assembly candidates.
“This can be understood from the damming failure they experienced in the polls on 25/02/2023 but we are clear with every detail that they could be running the bends but certainly not with the Labour Party and its House of Assembly candidates.
“We unequivocally declare that we are going into the election with all our hearts and therefore not holding consultation or judicial disposition with any political party, be it PDP or APC.
“We further clarify that those PDP allegedly invited to a meeting are no members of the Labour Party
“To this end, we encourage the people of Edo State, our teeming supporters, respected support groups, to come out in full strength and replicate the gallantry we showed in the presidential and the national assembly elections last Saturday”, Agbaloi said.
While speaking on the outcome of the just concluded presidential and the national assembly elections, the LP chairman, said the institution that bragged so much about conducting free, fair and credible elections has betrayed the hope of Nigerians.
“We have received the results declared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and hold the view that the institution has not done well, as all the results across the country were riddled with manipulation and contestable.
“Outright physical attacks by persons allegedly identified as government agents in collusion with Nigeria police were reported.
“In some instances, result sheets and other election materials were taken away.
“Our expectation was that by the age of INEC today, they would bring to the electoral table such improvement that can define sophistication and setting of new standards for the world on election management but no, what we saw was shameful compromises, reckless indulgence and thoughtless cancellation of elections in the units and avoidable omission.
“The almighty BVAS glowingly extolled by Prof Mahmoud Yakubu and his gangs was a fiasco”, Agbaloi said.
He called on the INEC to conduct a fresh election in those units in the state where the results of the party were manipulated.