Sequel to the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Candidate in the September 2024 governorship election in Edo state, Mr Asue Ighodalo says he feels a deep sense of betrayal in the apex court’s verdict.
A five-man panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba Lawal held that the appellants – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the September 2024 election, Asue Ighodalo – could not establish their claims of election non-compliance, unlawful votes, and that Okpebholo was not duly elected.
The appeal was dismissed for lacking merit.
Ighodalo, in his reaction to the apex court verdict, on Thursday, said though he accepted the finality of the judgment, “I do not and cannot pretend that what was delivered amounts to justice.”
He spoke in a statement he signed, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
”My dear people of Edo State, today, the Supreme Court has ruled.
”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.
”While I will not and can not obstruct any judicial pronouncement, no matter how flawed, I must never fear to speak truth to power,” he said.
According to him, 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.
”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.
”I feel your pain. I share your anger. And I will never forget your courage.
”To every young person who saw in this moment the birth of a new Edo.
”To every elder who longed to see our state rise again.
”To every woman and man who prayed, campaigned, and voted.
”We may not have won the office, but we won something greater.
”We found one another. We discovered our collective strength.
”Though this painful chapter closes today, our beautiful story does not end,” he said.
Ighodalo, however, said that he would not relent in his effort at ensuring a better Edo.
”The struggle to reclaim the soul of our beloved state continues.
”Yes, dark days may lie ahead. 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.
”But we are neither a fearful nor a broken people. We may be wounded. But all wounds heal.
”So let this be our vow. We will not retreat. We will not be silenced. And we will never forget,” he said.
The PDP candidate, therefore, advised Gov. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner of the election, to govern the state aright.
”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,” he concluded.
Thursday’s verdict came about 11 months after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo as the winner of the Edo governorship election.
The then-APC candidate got 291,667 votes, beating Ighodalo, his closest rival, who garnered 247,274 votes.
Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) took a distant third place, managing only 22,763 votes in the fiercely contested election.
However, unsatisfied with the conduct of the exercise, Ighodalo and the PDP took the matter to court, alleging that the election was fraught with irregularities. They asked the court to nullify the poll over allegations of non-compliance with the tenets of the Electoral Act 2022.
In April 2025, the election tribunal said the petitioners failed to prove the allegations against the respondents.
The PDP and Ighodalo took another step, going to the Court of Appeal to challenge that verdict.
Their petition was equally dismissed by a panel of the appellate court, which said their appeal lacked merit.
Meanwhile, Governor Okpebholo has welcomed the victory at the Supreme Court and has extended a “sincere olive branch to all his opponents and members of the opposition”.
NAN/ChannelsTV
“Ighodalo’s reaction to the verdict says it all – ‘a deliberate, coordinated robbery.’ The court’s decision has sparked strong emotions.”