Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Edo State governorship election, has made it clear that he’s dissatisfied with the election results and plans to seek redress in court. Ighodalo finished second with 247,274 votes, while Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner with 291,667 votes.
Ighodalo alleged that his mandate was stolen by the APC with the help of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He cited several issues, including the failure to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in over 160 polling units and alleged collusion between INEC, the police, and the APC to suppress the will of Edo voters .
The PDP candidate also accused the APC of offering cash incentives to voters ranging from N25,000 to N50,000. He stated that his party refrained from engaging in vote-buying and that he’ll take the matter to the tribunal to reclaim his mandate.
Ighodalo dismissed Okpebholo’s offer of friendship, saying it’s impossible to accept while the mandate remains contested. Instead, he’ll focus on the court case and proving that the PDP was the rightful winner of the election.
In a related development, Felix Morka, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, described Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, as a “serial complainer” who never accepts election results not in his favor.
