Edo APC: Idahosa Emerges As Running Mate To Okpebholo For Edo Guber Election
The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has selected Dennis Idahosa as the running mate to Senator Monday Okpebholo for the governorship election in Edo State on 21 September.
This decision is anticipated to effectively resolve the crisis after the party’s primaries for the gubernatorial election. It could be recalled that the party’s primary election held on 17
February resulted in three different winners.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state, who chaired the election committee, declared Dennis Idahosa as the winner with 40,453 votes, and Monday Okpebholo as the first runner-up with 100
votes. In a separate election, Okpebholo was also announced as the winner with over 12,000 votes, while another aspirant, Anamero Dekeri, was also declared as the winner of the same election.
In response to the controversy, the party deemed the primary election inconclusive and mandated re-election on 22 February, overseen by the Governor of Cross River, Bassey Otu.
Monday Okpebholo emerged as the winner of the New primary election, securing 12,433 votes, while Dennis Idahosa came in second with 6,541 votes.
However, Dennis Idahosa expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s declared result and took his concerns to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), urging them not to recognize
Okpebholo as the APC’s candidate.
In addition, he filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge his party’s decision to hold a fresh election. This legal battle is still ongoing.
Nevertheless, the party’s national leadership recently resolved during an overnight meeting led by the APC national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, naming Idahosa as Okpebholo’s
running mate, thereby resolving the deadlock.
It is worth noting that Dennis Idahosa currently serves as the incumbent member representing the Ovia federal constituency in the House of Representatives, while Monday Okpebholo is the
incumbent Senator representing Edo Central.
