Five days after filing his petition at the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last month’s election, Dr Asue Ighodalo has declared that he has absolute confidence in the ability of the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.
Appearing on an ITV Benin Radio Talk Show in Pidgin English, ‘Man Around Town’ on Wednesday morning, Ighodalo insisted that, notwithstanding the notion or perception of many people, as a lawyer of 40 years, his faith in the judiciary to remedy every wrong remains unshaken.
He pointed to the litany of cases that followed his nomination as the candidate of the PDP, saying, “I won all the 15 cases that were brought against me from the primary. And so I cannot say I don’t have faith in the judiciary. I certainly do. It remains the last hope of the common man”.
He narrated how PDP supporters were subjected to untold harassment and intimidation through phantom allegations, leading to their unwarranted arrest before and even during the election.
He condemned what he called the “brazen collusion” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state with the Nigeria Police Force and some “compromised officials” of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to manipulate and distort the results of the election that was manifestly in his favour and that of the PDP.
Ighodalo alleged that the APC chieftains, working hands in gloves with some INEC staff and policemen, subverted the will of the people. He labeled them as “enemies of democracy in Nigeria”, and vowed to use every lawful and legitimate means to retrieve and “reclaim the mandate from those who shamelessly stole it”.
Narrating his experience during the material inspection period, Ighodalo condemned “INEC show of undue sympathy” to the APC when the PDP had a legitimate court order to be allowed to inspect materials needed to aid the filing of his petition.
He accused INEC, the Police and APC of working together to frustrate the efforts of the PDP and himself to file the petition knowing very well that it was time bound.
Ighodalo specifically singled out the Resident Electoral Commissioner and the commission’s Legal Officer, who, he said, engaged in sundry time wasting gimmicks and all forms of obstructions.
On the reports by election observers, Ighodalo said they all reported that the election was brazenly and bare-facedly compromised by the combined collusion of APC, INEC and the Police. He declared that for him, the evidence that he won the election was incontrovertible, saying Nigeria cannot continue in a manner “people who have nothing to offer and do not mean well for Nigerians can just force themselves on the people because they control INEC and the Police and have thugs willing to do their bidding”.
Ighodalo dismissed the insinuation that the PDP lost the election because of infighting within the party, saying the argument was an afterthought by APC apologists to justify the electoral heist that took place on 21 September in the election. “We won the election outright”, he insisted.
Narrating his campaign efforts, Ighodalo said that he met the people, engaged them and presented his manifesto to them and they accepted the same and came out to vote massively for him.
On if he would accept the verdict of the court if it goes contrary to his expectations, Ighodalo said that, if, at the end, the Supreme Court in the land feels otherwise, he would abide by it, but stressed that, from the evidence he has gathered and the experience of the members of his legal team, he was sure to win the case now in court.
He also debunked the claim that he had congratulated the declared winner, asking hilariously if it was customary for a man whose property had been stolen by a thief to congratulate the thief.
“Do you congratulate a thief who has come to your house and stolen your goods? It is all propaganda. Did you not hear or read that I was getting ready to run for Senate? They are the worst form of propagandists in this country. Some of them even talk before thinking”, he further said.
Ighodalo warned that, if the kind of electoral heist just witnessed in Edo State continues in the country and not reversed, democracy would be imperiled. He then thanked the people of the state for standing by him and urged them not to allow themselves to be provoked by the antics of those who do not mean well for them.
