The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the outcome of the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024, which saw Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) declared the winner. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who finished third with 22,763 votes.
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, who chaired the Edo PDP National Campaign Council, expressed dismay over the election’s conduct, accusing INEC of violating the Electoral Act. Fintiri claimed that the APC manipulated the collation process to favor Okpebholo, and he questioned the credibility of the results released by the commission.
In a statement, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, emphasized that polling unit results clearly showed Ighodalo in the lead before the process was allegedly hijacked by the APC in collusion with INEC officials. “The results gathered by our polling agents reflect a clear victory for Ighodalo, yet they were blatantly altered in favor of APC,” Ologunagba said.
PDP also alleged irregularities in three key local government areas—Akoko Edo, Egor, and Etsako West—where it claimed vote inflation and manipulation occurred. Despite APC’s victory, PDP is calling for re-collation and recomputation of the results.
In contrast, the APC maintained that the election was fair and transparent. Jarrett Tenebe, acting chairman of APC in Edo State, brushed off the PDP’s complaints, stating that Edo North has always been an APC stronghold.
