Leaders and loyalists of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State took to the streets of Benin on Wednesday to protest against the results of the September 21 governorship election.
Recall that the governorship election had been reported to have been won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes.
However, the PDP has rejected the results, claiming the election was marred by manipulation.
Brandishing banners with messages such as “INEC sack Edo REC” and “INEC give us our mandate,” protesters, including high-profile PDP leaders, marched towards INEC’s office at Aduwawa, Benin.
Although they were kept at a distance by security personnel, chants of “Oshiomhole, Tinubu give us our mandate” echoed through the crowd.
In response, the APC’s Edo Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, dismissed the protest as ineffective, insisting that the election results reflected the will of Edo voters.
“The PDP can protest as much as they want, but that cannot change the result of the election. They can only approach the tribunal with evidence if they think their mandate has been taken from them,
“Edo people, who do not want the continuation of a PDP government, passed a referendum with their voter cards and gave the APC the mandate to govern the state as from November 12,” he said.
Leading the protest, PDP’s Edo State Chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, claimed that INEC manipulated the results in certain local government areas and called for Ighodalo to be declared the rightful winner.
“If we had lost this election in a free and fair contest, we would have congratulated them, but because they stole our mandate, we can’t congratulate them,”
“We believe that the tribunal is made up of men and women of integrity; they will look at the evidence before them and conclude that PDP won the election.”
Aziegbemi urged PDP supporters to remain peaceful, vowing that the party would continue its legal battle to reclaim what they believe is theirs.
Echoing this sentiment, the Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Council, Mathew Iduoriyekewen, affirmed that protests would continue until justice was served.
Meanwhile, INEC, through the Chief Press Secretary to its Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, distanced itself from allegations of vote-buying.
“Vote-buying and alleged result manipulation are all tied to unscrupulous attempts to gain an unmerited advantage in order to win an election.
“INEC can and should not be held responsible for vote-buying. We are doing our best to fulfill our expected roles.
“Other stakeholders should also play their part and stop undermining the electoral process,” he said.
