Democratic groups claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodaro, were defeated in the recently concluded Edo State governorship election even before the civil movement began.
Three weeks ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appointed Senator Monday Okpebolo as the next governor of Edo State after a heated vote.
However, the PDP and its supporters disagree with the poll results.
Some Ighodalo supporters protested at the INEC office in Benin City, demanding what they believe is the legitimate mandate of the PDP candidate.
The demonstrators held up messages such as “The next governor we know is Dr. Asue Ighodaro” and “Edo PDP won the election but INEC and the police colluded to change the election.” They held placards and expressed their dissatisfaction with the election results. September 21st.
Naija News recalls that Mr. Okpebolo came in second place with 291,667 votes, ahead of Mr. Ighodaro who received 247,274 votes.
However, the democratic faction called on the PDP to recognize the results of the gubernatorial election.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Executive Director of the Initiative for Democratic Progress and Freedom of Speech, Patrick Osaigbobo, said that in the aftermath of the defeat, the PDP had launched attacks on various institutions of democracy. He expressed concern that the situation is being strengthened. including the Nigerian State, INEC and security agencies.
“This onslaught is a continuation of the pre-election strategy of using vile propaganda to intimidate state institutions and try to smear voters in the face,” he said.
“As a governance advocacy organization committed to deepening electoral democracy in Nigeria, we dare to say that the PDP, through its own actions and inactions, has lost the people even before the election. When the last person in line has finished voting, the results will be uploaded to the results display portal iREV.
“However, as early as 10am, PDP began churning out its own results from its so-called “situation room” purporting to be from iReV. Delivering results en masse from units where voters are still in line is only meant to serve a predetermined outcome, thus setting the stage for post-election violence in the state.
“The PDP should have understood by now that election observers are not the same as election observers. There is only one election observer in Nigeria, INEC. Observer groups are meant to observe. They There is no room for rejecting the results declared by INEC. PDP should stop building castles in the air and start preparing for the 2028 elections.”
There is no basis for suspicion
Immediately reacting to this, Deputy Media Director of the PDP Movement Council, Olu Martins, ridiculed the group’s plea.
Mr Martins also debunked insinuations that the party sponsors some election observers as unfounded.
“The allegations are unfounded. Election observers are not new to the system. They have been monitoring the electoral process,” he said.
“The electoral system should be improved. Many observers concluded that the process in each unit was free and fair.”
