The All Progressive Congress in Edo State has mocked the Peoples Democratic Party and its supporters for staging a protest at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s office, alleging manipulation of election results.
The Publicity Secretary of the Edo APC, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, mocked the PDP, saying, “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.”
Uwadiae-Igbinigie further stated, “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 emphasized, “It is not about calling on President Bola Tinubu and Senator Adams Oshiomhole to give their mandate back to them. The gentlemen have nothing to do with their mandate. They can approach the tribunal to ventilate their grievances.”
Leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State staged a protest march to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Benin on Wednesday.
The protest was against the outcome of the September 21 governorship election, which saw the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, declared winner with 291,667 votes, defeating the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes.
The PDP had rejected the results, alleging manipulation. Protesters carried banners with inscriptions like “INEC sack Edo REC,” “INEC give us our mandate,” and chanted slogans, including “Oshiomhole, Tinubu give us our mandate.”
Security agencies were present to prevent protesters from getting too close to the INEC office at Aduwawa, Benin.
The protest was led by the Chairman of the Edo State chapter of the PDP, Tony Aziegbemi; the Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council, Mathew Iduoriyekewen; and the Deputy Director General (Media and Publicity), Olu Martins.
Aziegbemi addressed the protesters, “We thank you all for coming out today on a journey to reclaim the mandate taken away from us.”
He alleged, “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.”
Aziegbemi expressed confidence in reclaiming the mandate, “Go and sleep, as we are going to reclaim the mandate stolen from us. We are calling on the judiciary to look at our submission and be truthful in their judgement. This is Nigeria, and we can’t be robbed of our victory as we are sure of reclaiming our stolen mandate as we will present overwhelming evidence.”
He added, “We are sure that we will recover our mandate as the preliminary analysis we have done shows that this election was won clearly by Ighodalo. We will present the case to the tribunal.”
Aziegbemi emphasized, “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. We are going to the tribunal with an open mind.”
Iduoriyekewen echoed Aziegbemi’s sentiments, “PDP won the election, and we will continue this protest until our mandate is given to Ighodalo.”
Reacting, Uwadiae-Igbinigie reiterated, “No amount of protest would change the result of the election; they should approach the tribunal if they have convincing evidence.”
