‘Edo Election Set To Be Worst In Nigeria’s History’ — PDP‘s Ighodalo

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, has expressed concerns that the exercise may go down as the worst in Nigeria’s history due to numerous alleged irregularities.

Ighodalo said this during a live press conference on Sunday, organized by the Edo PDP National Campaign Council.

The council, chaired by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, also had in attendance outgoing Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

Ighodalo cited several instances of alleged electoral infractions at polling units, including issues those in Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo.

According to Ighodalo, accredited voters at a polling unit were recorded as zero, yet results were announced with votes for both major parties.

“The way this election is going, it is set to be the worst election in the history of this country. In Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, the figure for accredited voters was NIL, but the results claimed the APC had 227 votes, while the PDP had 103. How is that even possible?” Ighodalo questioned.

He also pointed to another polling unit in the same area where the number of accredited voters was recorded as 156, but the All Progressives Congress (APC) was announced to have secured 2,110 votes, while the PDP only received 57.

“In another unit in Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, the number of accredited voters was recorded as 156, but the APC was declared to have won 2,110 votes, while the PDP received just 57 votes, and no votes were recorded for the Labour Party,” Ighodalo stated.

Governor Fintiri similarly complained that PDP agents were barred from accessing collation centers, leaving doubt on the transparency of the election process.

“What we’re asking from INEC is to follow their rules. REC has no business to announce results or move collation to INEC headquarters. This is our stand and we will go back to consult,” Fintiri said, urging the electoral body to ensure that results collation is done transparently.

The collation of results from Saturday’s governorship election commenced on Sunday, and security was heightened around INEC’s Edo office.