Edo INEC Headquarters: How Edo Dep. Governor-elect, Takes Roles Of Security Guard

Wonders, people say shall never end. Why will the newly elected deputy governor of Edo State, Hon. Dennis Idahosa, abandon his honourable duties at the national assembly in Abuja, as a serving member of the House of Representatives to become a special security guard at the Benin office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)? The INEC had on September 21, 2024, conducted the off circle gubernatorial election in Edo State, and on September 22, 2024, declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, Senator Monday Okpebholo and Hon. Dennis Idahosa as Governor-elect and Deputy Governor-elect, respectively. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidates, Dr. Asuelinmen Ighodalo and Osarodion Ogie Esq, and teeming members of the party cried blue murder and vehemently rejected the results released by the INEC, even as they threatened a legal fire works. But Hon. Idahosa who’s yet to be inaugurated with his principal as deputy governor and governor of the state, and whose colleagues at national assembly are engaged in law making and performing oversight functions, has decided to create a new job for himself, even though it was not constitutionally assigned. Thus Idahosa has for several days running, to the chargrin of not a few Edo people, was seen directing the affairs of an APC Youths group who some days ago stormed the INEC headquarters in the state. In a vexed public display of arrogance and immunity, the rowdy APC youths tactically seized INEC office and prevented nearly everyone from gaining access to the building. The fearsome APC youths chanting war songs, had disrupted normal operations and also posed a significant security threat to the INEC office. Hon. Idahosa, along side with his loyal party’s state youth leader, Comrade Tony Kabaka, were seen taking charge of affairs. They justified their actions by claiming to have acted based on intelligence reports suggesting that the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and some PDP leaders had planned to storm the INEC office to tamper with the election materials used on September 21. They also alleged that information at their disposal indicated that some PDP thugs were planning to raze the INEC building and everything therein, hence their decision to go there on rescue mission and to protect the federal government property. Hon. Idahosa had told reporters at the scene of the blockage that their action was based on intelligence regarding a planned PDP invasion and the need to protect the federal government-owned facility from possible destruction, even as he vowed that they will continue to station there until all threats to the INEC facilities are removed.

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