The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo, has raised serious concerns regarding the credibility of the electoral results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He contended that the election was neither free nor fair, citing discrepancies where the total number of valid voters exceeded the total number of valid votes.
“We saw yesterday certain moves that suggest blatant attempts to manipulate the results of the elections. You see results being declared where the total votes are much higher than the number of accredited voters,” he stated.
A notable example, he pointed out, was Inipogbaha in Ologbo, where the accredited voters for the election numbered only 156, yet the results declared showed the APC receiving 2,110 votes and the PDP 57. Ighodalo emphasized that there are approximately 50 such polling units reporting similarly inflated results, where the votes far exceed the accredited voters.
“The irony of it all is that the APC ended up winning in those areas,” he added.
Ighodalo further condemned the INEC results as a subversion of the will of the people of Edo State, asserting that he and his running mate are peace-loving individuals who would not have voiced their concerns if they believed the results genuinely reflected the people’s wishes.
He also noted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken control of all significant offices related to the elections.
Things You Don’t Know About Asue Ighodalo
Asue Ighodalo, born on July 19, 1959, in Uyo, Nigeria, is a prominent lawyer, businessman, and philanthropist.
He hails from a family deeply rooted in public service, with his mother being Nigeria’s first female Permanent Secretary.
He earned a degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan and later pursued law at the London School of Economics and the Nigerian Law School.
Ighodalo co-founded Banwo & Ighodalo, a top-tier corporate law firm in Nigeria, in 1991.
Under his leadership, the firm became renowned for its expertise in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance, playing a significant role during Nigeria’s banking consolidation in 2005.
Apart from his legal practice, Ighodalo has held numerous board positions, including chairmanship of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group from 2018 to 2022.
He has also served on the boards of companies like Nigerian Breweries Plc and Sterling Bank, contributing to Nigeria’s economic policy formulation and corporate governance.
