Latest on Edo election: Pastor Ize-Iyamu denies conceding defeat

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has not addressed the press since he lost the Edo State governorship election on Saturday and has neither conceded defeat to the incumbent Governor, Godwin Obaseki, his campaign said Thursday morning in a statement.

“The Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu Campaign has called on the traditional media to perform due diligence in reporting events arising from Edo State, as unprofessionalism would render them as tools for PDP, spokesman, John Mayaki, said, while reacting to claims that the APC candidate has accepted his overwhelming defeat and begged Obaseki to return to the APC, the party he left after he was disqualified from the party’s governorship primary. He purportedly made the appeal in a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

 “We warned several times that the media should beware of fabrications from Obaseki and the PDP camp, but they did not listen. That is why they have reported that the election was free and fair, and that is why they have said our candidate appealed to Obaseki to come back to APC. The video in reference is from three months ago, not after the election but doctored by Governor Obaseki media handlers to seek undue legitimacy”, he claimed.

“Pastor Ize-Iyamu was reported in the stories as speaking from Abuja, but it was the Benin reporters that covered the story. Were the reporters transported to Abuja? Do these media agencies actually believe the stories they carry? Obaseki and the PDP has a way of leaking false news to the media and the media has to be sensitive and professional in receiving these news.”

Meanwhile, Mayaki also warned that there is a fake twitter account purporting to belong to Pastor Ize-Iyamu, which has been disseminating false information. He warned the media to avoid it like a plague and verify all their information before passing them on.

He said, “I only wish the media had been more professional during the elections; they were not and what is done is done. They don’t know how violent and anti-democratic it was in several parts of Edo State, including Egor in Benin City, and so they reported that the elections were free and fair. At least, going forward, let them verify all news before passing it on. It is the basic ethic of the profession”.