Officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have revealed that a large number of Edo State residents are considering destroying their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in protest against the alleged manipulation of the 2024 gubernatorial election results.
The statement comes after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday declared Okpebolo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the off-cycle gubernatorial election held on September 21. .
INEC announced that Okpebolo secured 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo, who secured 247,274 votes. Labor’s Olumide Akpata came in third place with 22,763 votes.
Since the election results were announced, both the PDP and Ighodalo parties have vocally rejected the results, alleging widespread election fraud.
In an interview with Premium Times on Wednesday night, PDP State Collation Bureau Chief Tony Iyoha expressed concern about the backlash from voters.
He said many residents are threatening to destroy the PVC as a form of protest against what they see as electoral fraud in favor of the APC.
“I have been traveling all over the state since the results were announced and many people have threatened to destroy their voter cards.
“This means they won’t vote anymore. They witnessed it (election fraud) in 2023. This is 2024,” Iyoha said.
The PDP agent said Edo people were not celebrating the election results because INEC “declared the person who did not vote as the winner”.
“The public is not celebrating (the election results). If you win an award, people are expected to celebrate.
“The only people celebrating in their homes are the party people and those who directly benefit. They know they didn’t win, so they can’t come celebrate,” he said. said.
On Wednesday, several PDP supporters led by some party leaders peacefully protested at the INEC office in the state capital, Benin.
Asked if the protesters wanted the electoral body to overturn the election results that had already been announced, Iyoha said his supporters just wanted to vent their anger.
he said: “Don’t hit a child or expect a child not to cry. So people are just venting their anger. They are protesting to vent their feelings about the outcome of the exercise. Ta.
“They have the right to protest under the Nigerian Constitution. I don’t know if INEC has decided to do the right thing. I think the next step will be a judicial process. I’m going to court.”
