Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, has described the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming Monday Okpebholo’s election as governor as a “tragedy” and a “betrayal of democracy.”
He accused the apex court of legitimising electoral robbery in a statement titled “Final Statement on the Supreme Court Judgement in the Edo Governorship Election Petition” made available to SaharaReporters on Thursday.
Ighodalo said though he accepts the finality of the ruling, “what was delivered amounts to injustice.”
The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed the appeal filed by Ighodalo and the PDP challenging the September 2024 governorship election in Edo State.
A five-member panel of justices led by Justice Mohammed Garba ruled that the appellants failed to prove their case and upheld the previous decisions of the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal, both of which had validated Okpebholo’s victory.
However, in his response, Ighodalo came down hard on both the electoral and judicial processes, alleging that the people’s mandate had been “trampled without consequence.”
“Though I accept the finality of its judgment, I do not and cannot pretend that what was delivered amounts to justice,” Ighodalo said.
“What happened in the September 2024 Governorship Election was not a contest. It was a robbery. Coordinated. Deliberate. And now, tragically validated by the highest court in the land.”
He accused Nigeria’s democratic institutions of betrayal and failing the people of Edo State.
“Like you, I feel a deep sense of betrayal. Not just by those who rigged the process, but by the very institutions we trusted to protect our democracy,” he said.
“You came out in hope. You voted for competence, for progress, for prosperity. And now, we are told that your voice does not matter. That your freely given mandate can be trampled without consequence.”
Ighodalo urged his supporters not to despair, assuring them that the struggle for a better Edo continues.
He warned that the people would feel the “weight of this illegitimacy” in the form of poor governance and failed policies.
“The weight of this illegitimacy will, unfortunately, echo beyond the halls of the Supreme Court. I fear Edo will feel it in the absence of leadership, in the poverty of policy, and in the daily suffering of her people,” he said.
“To those who now hold power undeserved, lead with humility. Govern with conscience. History sees what the courts may not. And one day, it will deliver its own verdict.”
This isn’t the first time Ighodalo has challenged the outcome of the 2024 governorship election.
SaharaReporters reported in May that the PDP candidate rejected the ruling of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which also affirmed Okpebholo’s election and dismissed Ighodalo’s petition for lacking merit.
At the time, Justice Mohammed Danjuma, delivering the appellate court’s decision, also held that the PDP and its candidate failed to prove their case and establish any miscarriage of justice in the tribunal’s earlier ruling.