APC Rejects Samuel Ortom’s Victory

APC in Benue State have come out to state their rejection of the result of the Governorship election declared on Sunday, that saw Gov Samuel Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secure re-election.

APC said, in a recently released statement, that the outcome did not show the will of the people.

The ruling party also revealed that they will be heading to court to seek justice.

Their statement read, “When we embarked on this journey many months ago, it was to translate to reality the dreams of a better future for our suffering people.

We toured the entire state and made our case for wealth creation through agriculture, education reforms, infrastructure development and a welfare package for our senior citizens.

We told our people of our plans for improved capacity and welfare for civil servants, and a health policy that covers all Benue residents.

Our messages resonated with the electorate because they could tell that our projects were about service, not hinged on intent to occupy office for the sake of it.

But, even as the results declared did not appear to reflect the will of most of these same people, we call on our supporters to remain calm and law abiding as they had been throughout the campaigns and electioneering period.

They have our full assurance that as a party that believes in democracy, we will not accept a stolen election

We did not anticipate a third option that confers advantage to those who play dubiously outside the laid down rules of the game, he said.

We will make a case before the Elections Petitions Tribunal to subject the Benue governorship elections result to an integrity test.

If we opt otherwise, we will be as guilty as those who undertake acts that undermine democracy.

We have chosen to take action that insulates democracy from practices that threaten it, the statement said.

The party, therefore, urged its members and well wishers to remain calm and refrain from acts that would jeopardise the existing peace in the state.”

Ortom received 434,473 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Emmanuel Jime of the APC, who got 345,155 votes.