By Imasogie Osagie
The Edo State All Progressive Congress, APC, has been accused of using thugs and the Police to stop the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from inspecting the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System , BVAS, used during the Edo State gubernatorial election that was held on September 21st, 2024.
According several reports, there was widespread manipulation of results which saw the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, declaring Senator Monday Okpebholo the winner of the election with 291,667 votes, PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and the Labour Party’s, LP, Olumide Akpata, who came in third with 22,763 votes.
The Peoples Democratic Party officially rejected the Edo State Governorship election results announced by the INEC. During a press conference in Abuja, PDP acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, called on concerned Nigerians to support the party’s rejection of the election results.
Out of the 18 local government areas in the state, the APC won 10, while the PDP secured 8.
Damagum claimed that the PDP candidate, Ighodalo, was the legitimate winner of the election and alleged that the election did not meet the necessary democratic standards.
He stated, “The PDP therefore unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State Governorship election as declared by INEC as it did not meet the minimum standard for democracy, having not reflected the expressed will and aspiration of the people in line with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines for State Governorship Election.
“The PDP demands that INEC within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022 review the Edo State governorship election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the Polling Units.”
Damagum announced that the PDP would challenge the results declared by INEC in court and urged the people of Edo to stay strong and steadfast.
He stated, “From unfolding political events in the country, the latest being the brazen rigging of the Saturday, September 21, 2024, Edo State Governorship election by the APC in connivance with government-controlled agencies, it is clear that our democracy is under threat.
“As you know and widely reported in all segments of the media, the 2024 Edo State Governorship election was bare-facedly compromised by the APC in collusion with unpatriotic security operatives and heavily procured officials of the INEC who viciously trampled on the votes of the people in defiance of the Law and total disregard to the sovereign will of the people of Edo State.
“You may recall that the PDP had on several occasions alerted of this sinister plot by the APC to subvert the election, the roles allegedly being played by AIG Zone 7, Benneth Igwe and Edo State Commissioner of Police CP Nemo Edwin-Iwo and the appointment of a known APC apologist and supporter, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, as the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC)
“Several demands by our Party for the redeployment of these officials as well as the release of all arrested PDP members and supporters fell on deaf ears and tend to validate PDP’s suspicion of a top-level conspiracy to rig the Edo State governorship election.”
The PDP acting national chairman stated that the people of Edo State selected Ighodalo as their next governor and emphasized that only their will, as expressed at the polling units, should be respected.
He added, “Nigerians and the world watched in horror as the APC-compromised security operatives and thugs unleashed terror, harassed, arrested and detained PDP members and supporters, foisted siege mentality on the people, paved the way for APC agents and procured INEC officials to manipulate the ballot process, substitute genuine results from the Polling Units with fictitious figures and transferred the victory clearly won by our candidate, Asue Ighodalo, to the defeated APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo.
“As Nigerians already know, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, results obtained from the Polling Units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo clearly won the election before the figures were altered at the State collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate.
“The PDP calls on all Nigerians and lovers of Democracy all over the world to stand up in solidarity with the people of Edo State in rejecting this assault on the democratic rights of the people as witnessed in the Edo State Governorship election.”
When asked about their confidence in the judiciary, Damagum stated, “In this election, we shall once again test the level of preparedness of the judiciary to deliver justice where it is needed. Therefore, we cannot rule out a situation where justice will be dispensed, but the most important thing is that we shall subject them to greater scrutiny in the eyes of Nigerians. They say that when the judicial system does not work, then you don’t have a country. I don’t know if we will still have a country.”
