Edo election may be Nigeria’s worst, says Ighodalo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, has raised concerns over alleged irregularities, claiming the election could be the “worst in the history of this country.”

Speaking at a press conference at the PDP Situation Room in Benin City, Ighodalo alleged that PDP agents were denied access to the collation centre, a situation he described as harmful to Nigeria’s democracy.

“From our perspective, the way these elections are going, they’re probably going to be the worst elections in the history of this country,” Ighodalo stated, adding that over 20 polling units reported discrepancies where the total votes exceeded the number of accredited voters.

Ighodalo also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of employing thugs, backed by security personnel, to intimidate polling agents and disrupt the election process.

He described these actions as a threat to democratic values, saying, “This is not acceptable in the 21st century, and definitely not in Nigeria. We’ve gone way past this.”

The PDP candidate called the alleged result manipulations “totally unacceptable” and reiterated his party’s commitment to challenge any attempts to disenfranchise voters or manipulate the outcome of the election.

“This process is unacceptable and then they’re trying to disenfranchise our collation agents,” Ighodalo said. “Like His Excellency (Umaru Fintiri who leads the party’s campaign organisation for the election) read, at every point, you find APC and their thugs supported by people dressed as security agents going to shoot at polling agents and disrupt processes.

“This is not acceptable in the 21st century. Definitely not in Nigeria. I think we’ve gone way past this.”