Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the September 21, 2024 election in Edo State, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of delaying voting in his strongholds in Edo Central Senatorial District.
Ighodalo made this claim when he cast his ballot at Idionrio Primary School, Ward 1 Unit 3 in Ewohimi, in the Esan South East Local Government Area.
The PDP candidate and others voted around midday due to the lateness of INEC officials.
In a chat with reporters at the voting venue, Ighodalo said, “They (INEC officials) are here now and getting ready to start the process, once they start, our people will vote as soon as possible.
“At the moment, we are seeing that in many of our strongholds, there are delays, they don’t have enough presiding officers but again, it’s early days so let’s see what happens in the next few hours.”
He said there are rumours that INEC has compromised in some polling units but he wants to keep an open mind and give the electoral umpire the benefit of the doubt to create a level playing field for all contestants.
“I am hearing flickers of such activities this morning but again I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see how things unfold over the next few hours,” he said.
INEC has since extended voting period in places where the process started late.
The people of Edo State in South-South Nigeria are out to elect a new governor to succeed the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, whose constitutional eight-year double terms will end on November 12, 2024.
Edo is one of the eight states where governorship elections are held off-season due to litigations and court judgements. Others are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo.
According to INEC, there are 2,629,025 total number of registered voters and 4,519 polling units in Edo State. Out of this figure, 2,249,780 (85.57%) have Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and will decide Obaseki’s successor.
Though 17 candidates are jostling for the office, analysts have described the forthcoming poll as a three-horse race involving PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
Akpata is a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and he is solidly supported by 2023 LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who in about a year galvanised over six million votes in 2023 riding on the crest of the ‘Obidient’ movement.
Ighodalo, former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), secured the endorsement of the incumbent governor, Obaseki, who shunned his deputy and party man, Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu and former governor Adams Oshiomhole have pledged their support for Okpebholo.
In terms of party strongholds, the APC has current senators in Edo North (Oshiomhole) and Edo Central (Okpebholo) while the Labour Party’s senator Neda Imasuen is from Edo South where Akpata hails from
