Leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State marched on Wednesday to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin to protest against the outcome of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
INEC proclaimed the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the winner of the poll.
According to the electoral body, Okpebholo received 291,667 votes, defeating the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who received 247,274.
However, the PDP has subsequently disputed the poll results, alleging they were falsified.
On Wednesday, PDP members and officials marched through Benin, carrying banners with phrases like “INEC sack Edo REC” and “INEC give us our mandate,” among others.
Some were heard chanting, “Oshiomhole, Tinubu, give us our mandate.”
However, security officials were on patrol to ensure that the demonstrators did not get too close to the INEC office in Aduwawa, Benin.
However, the Edo APC’s publicity secretary, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, derided the PDP in an interview with our correspondent, claiming that no amount of protest could reverse the outcome of the election.
“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 of November 12.
“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,” Uwadiae-Igbinigie.
The PDP’s protest on Monday was led by Tony Aziegbemi, Chairman of the party’s Edo State chapter; Mathew Iduoriyekewen, Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council; and Olu Martins, Deputy Director General (Media and Publicity).
Addressing the demonstrators, Aziegbemi urged INEC to proclaim Ighodalo the winner of the election, claiming that INEC falsified the results in various local government areas.
He said, “We thank you all for coming out today on a journey to reclaim the mandate taken away from us.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“PDP is a very peaceful party, as it always preaches peace, and all along our protest, it has been violence-free, and it will continue to be so.”
Similarly, Iduoriyekewen stated that the PDP won the poll and that the protest would continue until Ighodalo received his mandate.
In response, the APC’s state press secretary, Peter Uwadiae-Igbinigie, stated that no amount of protest would affect the election results and urged the PDP to visit the tribunal if they had sufficient proof.
