One of the three aspirants laying claim to the Edo State All Progressives Congress governorship ticket, Anamero Dekeri, on Monday, visited the national headquarters of the party in Abuja to demand his certificate of return for winning Saturday’s party primary.
He was said to have met the National Chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
Dekeri’s action comes in the wake of an ongoing protest in Benin, the state capital, where angry youths and women reportedly took over the party secretariat and demanded the immediate sack or dissolution of the state executives led by the acting Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, following the outcome of the February 17 shadow poll.
The poll produced three winners.
Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the primary, Governor Hope Uzodimma, had announced Dennis Idahosa as the winner, while returning officer, Stanley Ugboaja, declared Monday Okpebholo as the winner.
Elsewhere, Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to be representing the returning officers in all the local governments declared Dekeri as the winner of the election.
Although he refused to address journalists after he exited the hall, Dekeri who arrived at the secretariat in Abuja at about 1.30pm was said to have had a 10-minute closed-door session with the National Chairman of the APC, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
” He came with a letter addressed to the NWC through the national chairman demanding they issue him his certificate of return having been declared winner of Saturday’s primary,” a source said.
When contacted, Tenebe, who was earlier seen declaring Okpebholo as their candidate in a viral video on Saturday, called for calm, saying only the leadership of the APC can declare the actual winner.
He said, “The party conducted a primary and somebody emerged. So, within the next few days, you people (journalists) will know who won the primary. It is the National Working Committee that did the primary. So, there is a procedure for announcing the result.
“So, within the next few days, everything will be settled. That is the only thing I can say for now”.
Tenebe was however mum on the call for his sack.
Punch