Ighodalo Vows to Reclaim ‘Stolen Mandate’ at Election Tribunal

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the recent Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, has expressed confidence that he will recover his “stolen” mandate through the Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal.

Ighodalo, who lost to Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by a margin of 44,393 votes in the September 21 election, claims the process was neither free nor fair.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ighodalo garnered 247,274 votes, while Okpebholo secured 291,667. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 22,763 votes.

During an interview on *Politics Today* on Channels Television, Ighodalo stated that his legal team has identified over 150 polling units where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was not used.

“We are confident that we will win at the tribunal. There is substantial data and evidence supporting our case. We are certain we won the election last Saturday,” Ighodalo declared.

He also accused INEC and law enforcement of undermining the will of the Edo people, alleging that the APC manipulated the election in collaboration with electoral authorities.

“We didn’t rig the election. When APC and INEC realized APC was losing, they subverted the electoral laws and guidelines,” Ighodalo claimed, citing irregularities in the collation process.

He vowed to fight the outcome at the tribunal, believing the people of Edo voted overwhelmingly in his favor.