The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has said the party did everything to make sure it won the Edo State governorship election that was held on Saturday.
The National Chairman stated this on Monday while closing the situation room and the account used in monitoring the election situated at the National Secretariat of the party.
According to him, the election was not easy, just as he said several obstacles and high tension generated before the polls made the election tough for the party which had to look for ways to beat the Peoples Democratic Party by every means.
The APC National Chairman said the tension and the declaration by Governor Godwin Obasekí that the election was a do-or-die affair put the APC on edge and made the party think outside the box on how to win the election.
While stating that winning a ruling government was not easy, the chairman said: “This huge success could not have been possible without the assistance of Allah SWT, and without the belief that God determines everything in life, including elections.
“Our able stakeholders both here in Abuja and down there in Edo State where the election took place also did their best. So, apart from this situation room which worked very hard, we also had a situation room in Benin which also coordinated the election.
“From the campaign level to the voting level and then down to the local government level, coming to the national or state levels where finally the results were collated and announced, we have to thank everyone including the Governor of Imo State who coordinated the governors. We have to thank also members of the National Assembly, especially the Senate President who was physically there during the election.
“We have to thank the security agencies. The police, the army, the air force, the Navy. We know there are riverine areas there. We have to thank the civil defence as well. And we have to thank our chairmen of APC across the country, who were invited to also witness the occasion.
“So, we did not part well. We parted in pieces when he left our party and joined the PDP. From there the fight continued until yesterday when we were able to break it down. The governor was a former member of the All Progressives Congress)APC).
“We knew how we were exchanging blows, we were wrestling, we were racing. We were doing everything that symbolized a contest. Especially the thing that was very radical to the government and in particular to our party.
“So, even before the election, the situation was overheated. And we considered defeating the sitting government as a task that must be done. So, we had to do it especially because he said it was a do-or-die affair but we said no.
“Our own approach will be different. It will be a do and succeed. Because if we die, what is the importance of success? Our own was a do and succeed and we did and succeeded. So, we have to thank all the stakeholders.”
Ganduje promised that the entire process of the Edo election will be thoroughly studied for use in future elections.
“The pattern of voting, the successes and failures in different units, we know because APC is an institution that is driven by knowledge. We are not just beating about the bush. We are not taking action based on pride and error.
“Knowledge is based on information and based on data. So, we have a lot of data now before us and we will sit down and invite those who are good in social sciences so that we can give value to all the actions and inactions that we found in order to guide us.
“We will face those states and see how we can recover many states in our field. I now formally close the situation room. And when I say close, we have also closed even the accounts, “Ganduje declared.
