The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has criticised the conduct of the September 21, 2024, Edo State governorship election, calling it one of the most undemocratic in Nigeria’s history.
In the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner. Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who scored 247,274 votes. Labour Party’s candidate, Olumide Akpata, came third with 22,763 votes.
Speaking at the memorial service for the late Chief Edwin Clark on Wednesday, Obi questioned the credibility of the electoral process and expressed deep concern over the state of democracy in the country.
“We have a country now that is not democratic. We are not a democratic country. Let’s tell ourselves the truth. Is the election, the election that happened in Edo, is it democratic? Just the last election in Edo, it’s the most un-democratic election. Everybody knows who won that election. So why are we keeping it and saying, let’s their work not be in vain. It is in vain. So we can start picking the pieces now, because they’ve destroyed everything, people have sacrificed for,” he said.