The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has said he and his party are at liberty to pursue any legal option they deem fit as long as the peace of the state is not threatened.
In an Independence Day message signed by Ize-Iyamu, he said his party was collating facts and would soon speak authoritatively in the best tradition of rule of law, fairness to all and due process.
He said, “We will brief you all in good time and that time is near. But then, the question is after September 19, what next? We owe you an explanation on the way forward. Indeed, not a few have been bombarding us with this question. Well, we have kept quiet so far, not because we are bad losers, as some unfairly presume. It’s rather because, no matter the situation, we are staunch soldiers of the rule of law and due process.
“Suffice it to say that with due sensitivity to the feelings of our people, we are busy collating our facts. Only after can we speak and speak authoritatively in the best tradition of rule of law, fairness to all and due process. We will brief you all in good time and that time is near.
“In the course of our methodical approach, not a few deem to have pre-empted our course of action and pleaded that we do not proceed to the courts to challenge the election result. While that cannot be dismissed as an entirely bad plea, what I can say is that whatever action we subsequently take will be rooted in due process and the rule of law. We will exercise every right available to us under the law, given the electoral facts at our disposal.
“Even as we speak, our people should know that the PDP and their agents and privies have instituted 13 lawsuits against my running mate and I. None of them have they discontinued after the election. So, if the PDP don’t pass up their rights under the law, why should we in the APC do so?”
