A Governorship Election on the Brink of Infamy in Nigeria
Nigeria is on the cusp of a potentially infamous governorship election, according to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Asue Ighodalo. He has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, of rampant irregularities that could compromise the integrity of the vote.
Ighodalo made the allegation during a live press conference on Sunday, where he detailed multiple instances of electoral infractions across various polling units in Edo State. One of the most egregious examples he cited involved polling units in Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, where zero accredited voters were recorded yet results were still announced. He went on to highlight similar discrepancies in other areas.
“These irregularities threaten the credibility of the results being announced,” Ighodalo said. “In Ikpoba/Okha Ologbo, for instance, there were zero accredited voters, yet the APC received 227 votes, while the PDP got 103. This is unacceptable. In another unit, there were 156 accredited voters, yet the APC received 2,110 votes, and the PDP got just 57, with no votes recorded for the Labour Party.”
Edo State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who led the PDP National Campaign Council, echoed Ighodalo’s concerns, calling on INEC to adhere to its own rules and ensure transparency in the collation process. Fintiri pointed out that PDP agents had been denied access to collation centers, raising further questions about the fairness of the vote.
INEC has yet to comment on the allegations, but Fintiri urged the commission to “follow their rules, REC has no business to announce results or move collation to INEC headquarters. This is our stand and we will go back to consult.”
As the results continue to roll in, the question on everyone’s mind is whether this governorship election will indeed become the worst in Nigeria’s history.
