The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result of the Edo State governorship election declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Sunday.
INEC has announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the election after he polled the highest number of votes cast.
Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes while Asue Ighodalo, the PDP candidate, polled a total of 247,274 votes and came in second. Labour Party (LP) candidate Olumide Akpata came in third with 22,763 votes.
The PDP's acting national chairman, Umar Damagum, said at a press conference in Abuja on Monday that the party's candidate won the election but the result was manipulated in favour of the APC candidate.
The PDP chairman has asked INEC to review the election results.
“The PDP therefore unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State governorship election as declared by INEC as it failed to meet the minimum standard for democracy, having failed to reflect the expressed will and aspiration of the people in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the INEC Guidelines for State Governorship Elections.
“The PDP demands that INEC, within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the 2022 Electoral Act, review the Edo State governorship election and announce the results solely from genuine votes cast in the polling units,” he said.
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Engaged
Mr Damagun alleged that the APC compromised security operatives and used thugs who harassed and arrested PDP members and supporters to pave way for the manipulation of the process.
“Nigerians and the world watched in horror as security agents and thugs committed to the APC unleashed terror, harassed, arrested and detained PDP members and supporters, imposed a siege mentality on the people, paved way for APC agents and INEC officials to manipulate the electoral process, substitute fictitious figures for genuine results from polling units and transfer the clearly won victory of our candidate, Asue Ighodalo, to the defeated APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo.
Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday
“As Nigerians are aware, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, the results obtained at the polling units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, clearly won the election before the figures were altered in the state collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate,” he said.
Mr Damagun called on Edo State residents to reject the results declared by INEC.
“The PDP calls on all Nigerians and lovers of democracy across the world to stand in solidarity with the people of Edo State and reject this attack on the democratic rights of the people as witnessed in the Edo State governorship election.”
Justice
The PDP chairman also said the party would challenge the outcome of the election and seek justice.
“In this election, we will once again test the level of preparedness of the judiciary to deliver justice where it is needed. So, we cannot rule out a situation where justice is delivered, but more importantly, we will subject them to greater scrutiny in the eyes of Nigerians. They say that when the judiciary does not function, there is no country. I don’t know if we will still have a country,” he said.
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Governor Godwin Obaseki, also a member of the PDP, had earlier rejected the outcome of the poll and urged the party concerned to challenge the result in court.