Ighodalo argued that accepting Okpebholo’s offer of friendship would make it impossible to retrieve his “stolen mandate”
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the just concluded Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, has rejected the olive branch extended by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and Governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Okpebholo as the winner of the gubernatorial poll after garnering 291,667 votes.
The commission further stated that PDP’s Ighodalo finished second in the election with 247,274 votes, while Labour Party (LP) flag bearer, Olumide Akpata, secured 22,763 votes.
While receiving his certificate of return on Thursday in Abuja, Okpebholo told journalists that he is expecting congratulatory messages from Ighodalo and his party.
He said, “If I had lost I would have borne it, and I would have, by now, congratulated the winner. So I’m expecting them to congratulate me.”
However, while featuring on Channels Television’s programme, ‘Politics Today’, Ighodalo insisted his mandate was stolen by the APC with the help of INEC.
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He cited several issues, including the failure to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, in over 160 polling units, the skipping of proper collation procedures from ward to state level, and alleged collusion between INEC, the police, and the APC to suppress the will of Edo voters.
He went on to state that his party refrained from engaging in vote-buying, unlike the APC, which he accused of offering cash incentives to voters ranging from N25,000 to N50,000.
Speaking on his next steps, Ighodalo declared his intention to take the matter to the tribunal, where he believes the evidence will prove that the PDP was the rightful winner of the election.
He dismissed Okpebholo’s offer of friendship, stating that accepting such overtures would be impossible while the mandate remains contested.
“Because the mandate is stolen, there is no way you can accept these hands of fellowship or friendship.
“I will stay with the people of Edo State who fully gave me the mandate of their free will, and I will go into the courts and the tribunal to reclaim our mandate and then form the government,” he said.
