The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje claims that comments made by Governor Godwin Obaseki were responsible for the party's defeat in the recently concluded governorship elections.

Prior to the September 21 elections, Obaseki declared during a campaign rally held by the party that the election would be a "do-or-die affair" because he feared that the people of Edo would be doomed if the APC reclaimed the state.

Speaking to reporters at the party's headquarters in Abuja, Ganduje noted that Obaseki's comments put pressure on their supporters, motivating them to prove him wrong by voting for Okpebholo.

Ganduje said, “This exercise (Edo governorship election) was a difficult one because we competed with several obstacles. We had a governor (Obaseki) who was one of our own before. We are children of the same father, but with different mothers, all engaged in the contests. So, we didn’t part well. We parted in pieces, and then he left our party for the PDP, where the fight continued until yesterday (Sunday) when we were able to reclaim power.

“Even before the election, one side is already overheating the polity. He (Obaseki) said it is a do-or-die election. But we said ‘no’, our own would be do-and-succeed. This is because if you die, who will introduce your successor? So, we are here to thank all the stakeholders.

“From what happened, we are going to use the result, the pattern of voting, successes and failures in different units to the APC institution, which is driven by knowledge. The South East has five states. But two of them belong to our big party, the APC. So we will see how we can recover many States in our favour. I now formally close (the Edo election situation room).”