By Grace Udoh with agency reports
THE Edo State Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in last Saturday’s election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has debunked claims that he is under pressure from party leaders to accept defeat.
In a statement by his Director of Communication and Media, John Mayaki, the APC standard bearer also condemned a video that went viral where he was calling on Governor Godwin Obaseki to return to the APC.
This came as former National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said he is not down and all hopes are not lost.
Urging the media to desist from speculative reports, Ize-Iyamu said: “I was shocked this morning (yesterday) when I saw reports saying I begged Obaseki to return to APC after the election. While immediately responding to it, another one emerged. I will restate that I never begged him to return after the election. I deliberately did not reply when I saw all that rumour on the social media with people tagging me in them.
“Now I saw another report in the media stating that APC leaders are mounting pressure on me to accept defeat. In all fairness to the National leadership of my party, they never mounted any pressure on me. So I wonder where their source got information from. The public reposes a lot of trust in the media for authentic information. What happens when this trust is betrayed?”
Meanwhile, Ize-Iyamu reiterated his earlier position that he had not yet made up his mind on the next step to take.
“I already tweeted that I am studying the result and consulting widely on my next line of action. Speculative reporting must be condemned. When I make up my mind, I will let my supporters know. For now, patience is what I implore. Not violence, not anger will help us now. Dignity will manifest in how we bounce back from this minor setback,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and a faction of APC in Edo have congratulated Governor Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on his victory in the election.
On Wednesday, Buni and Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello met with Ize-Iyamu at Governor Buni’s Abuja residence in what sources said was to discuss the way forward after the Edo poll.
Meanwhile, Comrade Oshiomhole, who broke his silence on last Saturday’s governorship election, said he remained positive and that in life all hopes are never lost.
In a short video apparently taken in his gymnasium and posted by GEE Africa TV, Oshiomhole said he is feeling good.
He said: “You know in life, you work hard and leave God for the outcome, you do your best and trust God to bless your effort.
“I feel good, I feel healthy thank God, I feel strong, thank God. In life you win some and you lose some but life goes on. I want to thank everybody, I am sure a lot of people think comrade is down but I am not down. When God says you are not down, you are not down and I am not down.
“I thank Edo people for all they did over the past two, three, four, six weeks, people under the rain under the sun, young ladies carrying babies on their back, I saw elderly women struggling to see my small face, and on election day I was moved to tears when I saw elderly women of 70 to 75 sitting down because the card readers were not working and they were not frustrated with that, they struck me with that. If at their age, they didn’t give up, why should I give up”
