Election in Edo could be the worst in Nigeria’s history – Ighodalo

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo State gubernatorial election, Asue Ighodalo, lamented that the election could be remembered as the worst election in Nigeria's history due to numerous alleged irregularities.

Ighodalo made the alarm during a live press conference on Sunday organized by the National Campaign Council of the Edo PDP and chaired by Ahmadu Fintiri, the Governor of Adamawa State.

The event, which was also attended by the state's outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki, focused on allegations of manipulation against the independent national electoral commission INEC.

He cited several cases of voter fraud in several polling stations and questioned the credibility of the announced results.

Among the serious violations he cited were polling stations in Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo where the number of registered voters was zero but results were still announced.

He further pointed out similar problems at other polling stations in the same area.

“The way this election turns out, it will be the worst election in the history of this country.

“In Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, there were ZERO accredited voters but according to the results, APC had 227 votes and PDP 103. How is this even possible?

“In another constituency in Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, the number of accredited voters was reported as 156, but the APC received 2,110 votes while the PDP received only 57 votes and no votes were recorded for the Labour Party,” Ighodalo explained.

Governor Fintiri echoed these concerns, adding that PDP agents had been denied access to the collection centres, raising further questions about the transparency of the process.

Fintiri urged INEC to respect its own rules and ensure that the compilation of results is fair and transparent.

“We demand that INEC abide by its rules. REC has nothing to do with announcing results or moving the vote to INEC headquarters. That is our position and we will consult again,” Fintiri said.