Ahead of Thursday’s governorship primaries in Edo State, one of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants in the state, Mr. Kenneth Imasuagbon, on Wednesday dismissed reports that he had stepped down from the race in favour of Governor Godwin Obaseki.
Imasuagbon, who disclosed this in a statement issued in Benin, said the report that he had accepted to step down for the governor emanated from Obaseki’s camp in a bid to sway the delegates’ votes in his favour.
One of the aspirants, Godwin Ikhine, had on Monday pulled out of the governorship race in favour of Obaseki.
Ikhine said at a press briefing attended by the governor and other PDP stalwarts in the state that he believes Obaseki “would bring glory to the party in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.”
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But unlike Ikhine, Imasuagbon said he was in the race to win and not to make up the number of contestants for the PDP governorship ticket.
He said: “The governor knows that I’m popular with the delegates and he is doing everything possible to change this.
“For the sake of emphasis, I have not and will not consider accepting anything to step down from the race for the PDP ticket.
“I also understand that they are trying to manipulate the delegates’ list in their favour. I want to warn that if they try it, we will do everything possible to resist it, we shall also meet in court.”
Ripples Nigeria had reported that one of the aspirants, Omorefie Ogbeide-Ihama had recently obtained a court order barring Obaseki from contesting the primary. He had however also approached the court to stay action on his suit, as the parties had opted for an out of court settlement.
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