The candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo, is unhappy with the results of the recent Edo State governorship election. He plans to take his case to court because he believes that the results are unfair.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ighodalo said that his win was wrongfully taken away by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with help from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to DAILY POST, Ighodalo came in second with 247,274 votes. The APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, won with 291,667 votes. The Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata, got 22,763 votes.
Ighodalo mentioned several problems, such as not using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in over 160 polling stations and not following the correct voting count steps from local to state levels. He also claimed that INEC, the police, and the APC worked together to stop the people of Edo State from voting freely.
Ighodalo said that his party, the PDP, did not buy votes. He accused the APC of giving voters money, between N25,000 and N50,000, to get their votes.
Discussing his next steps, Ighodalo said he will go to the tribunal, where he thinks the evidence will show that the PDP actually won the election.
He refused an offer of friendship from Okpebholo, saying he couldn’t accept it while he believed the election results were still unfair.
“Since the win was stolen, I can’t accept offers of friendship,” he said. “I will stand by the people of Edo State who freely gave me their support. I will go to court and the tribunal to get our win back, then we will form the government,” he said.