Edo Guber Battle: My Faith in Judiciary Remains Unshaken – Ighodalo

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Having scaled the first hurdle in his journey to reclaim his allegedly stolen mandate with the successful filing of his petition at the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, in spite by the antics of those he described as “enemies of democracy” to put spanner in the works, Dr Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 21 election, has affirmed his faith in the judiciary to right the wrong notwithstanding the perception of many people.

Ighodalo, who was guest on a Pidgin English Talk Show on a Benin-based private broadcast station, Independent Television and Radio, (ITV/Radio) ‘Man Around Town’ on Wednesday morning, said as a lawyer of 40 years, his faith in the judiciary to remedy every wrong remained unshaken, citing a litany of cases that followed his nomination as the candidate of the PDP. “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 posited.

Recalling how the supporters of the PDP were allegedly subjected to untold harassments and intimidation through phantom allegations leading to their unwarranted arrests before and even during the election, Ighodalo condemned the “brazen collusion” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state with the Nigerian Police Force and some compromised Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to manipulate and distort the results of the election which he claimed were manifestly in his favour and that of the PDP.

He upbraided APC chieftains for allegedly working hands in gloves with some “compromised INEC staff and rogue Police men”, to subvert the will of Edo people, and labeled them as enemies of democracy in Nigeria. He however vowed to use every lawful and legitimate means to retrieve and reclaim the mandate from those he said shamelessly stole it.

Sharing his experience during the material inspection exercise, he condemned the INEC’s 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 knocked the INEC, Police and the APC for conniving to frustrate the efforts of the PDP and himself to file their petition knowing very well that it was time-bound.

Ighodalo specifically called out the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) and the Commission’s Legal Officer who allegedly engaged in sundry time-wasting gimmicks and all forms of obstructions.

Commenting on the reports by election observers, Ighodalo said they all reported that the election was “brazenly and bare-facedly compromised” by the collusion of APC, INEC, and an obviously partisan Police Force, stressing that for him, the evidence that he won the election was incontrovertible.

He expressed concern that Nigeria cannot continue like this, where 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.

The aggrieved PDP flagbearer dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the PDP lost the election because of in-fighting, describing the argument as an afterthought by APC apologists to justify the electoral heist that took place in the state. “We won the election outright,” Ighodalo insisted.

Reflecting on his campaign efforts, Ighodalo said 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.

Asked if he would accept the verdict of the court if it did not meet his expectation, Ighodalo said if at the end, the Supreme Court in the land felt otherwise, he would abide by it, but was quick to add that from the evidence he had gathered and the experience of the members of his legal team, he was sure to win the case.

Contrary to the claim in some quarters that he had congratulated the governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, he asked comically 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.”

Sounding a note of caution on the future of democracy in Nigeria, Ighodalo warned that if the kind of electoral heist just witnessed in Edo continued and not reversed, democracy would be imperiled. He appreciated Edo people for standing by him and urged them not to allow themselves to be provoked by the antics of those he said do not mean well for them.