Edo Guber: I did not meet with Obaseki —Igini

Edo Guber: I did not meet with Obaseki —Igini

THE Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, has described as “misleading”, the claim by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State chapter, that he (Igini) was in Benin City on August 27, 2020, where he met with Governor Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to perfect how to rig the September 19 governorship election in favour of the governor.

In a statement, he personally signed on Sunday, Igini said: “Contrary to the misleading claim, on the said date, I was in Lagos State, hence I find it very mischievous that those who made this cruel allegation now attributed the spiritual ability to be in two locations at the same time to my person.”

Besides, Igini said that he had not met Governor Obaseki since he was sworn in over three years ago till date, adding that the alleged meeting with the governor “is unquestionably a mere figment of the imagination of those who made those allegations.

“Evidently, those who made the concocted story do not know me. If they do, certainly, they will never attribute the anti-democratic sacrilege to my person. For the avoidance of doubt, and to disabuse the minds of Edo citizens and voters, I urge everyone to disregard these lies and innuendoes.

“I have never and will never be part of any scheme to rob voters of their right to choose their elected representatives,” he vouched.

The REC, while reiterating his commitment to democracy, wondered where these individuals that made the allegations were when he joined others to risk their lives for the present democratic dispensation at a time “when the journey of this country and the prospect of democracy was less certain.”

“I have never been at the back but at the forefront of electoral reforms to ensure that citizens’ rights and access to ballots as the best means of the expression of the will of the people are strengthened and will never be part of any design to debase them,” Igini vowed.

Describing his entire public service life as “an open book” the REC urged those with any doubt “to visit the public records and review the results of an election conducted under my watch as Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo, Cross River, Imo, Anambra and Akwa Ibom State”, stressing that under his watch, “every vote counted and taken into account and every voter’s right was preserved,” Igini said.