Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has given the reason he went to INEC collation centre in the early hours of Sunday.
According to the governor, he went to meet the Resident Electoral Commission after he received reports that the commission had stopped collation and wanted to find out reasons for the stoppage.
It is recalled the governor was at the INEC office around 2 am and held a meeting with INEC officials before he was escorted outside by the police led by Deputy Inspector General Frank Mba.
His presence resulted in protest by members of the All Progressives Congress, led by Monday Okpebholo’s running mate, Dennis Idahosa, who demanded the governor leave the premises.
However, while given reasons for going to INEC premises at a briefing, Obaseki said he was surprised when he heard INEC had stopped collation of the results.
“At about 1 am, I got a report that collation was supposed to have been moved to the INEC head office. I also got reports from our agents that PDP agents were not allowed into the collation centre. At that point in time, I called the REC to find an explanation of what was going on. There was no response, and I then went to the INEC office to meet with the REC and to understand what steps INEC was taken to continue the process of collation,” Obaseki said.