Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri has raised concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy following the Edo gubernatorial election held on September 22.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner, with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 22,763 votes.
Fintiri, who chaired the PDP campaign council, described the election as marred by irregularities, including vote-buying and disruptions in the collation process.
“I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll,” Fintiri posted on X.
Before the final results were announced, Fintiri, alongside Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo, addressed a press conference where they questioned the credibility of the results.
Fintiri faced criticism from the opposition for allegedly overstepping his role by announcing results. However, he clarified: “The APC’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas.”
He further accused the APC of flouting electoral rules, saying: “What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters. This blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage.”
Fintiri also pointed to widespread allegations of vote-buying and discrepancies in the collation process, stating, “Nigerians are outraged, slamming INEC for compromising and favouring APC.
The reported vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results with more votes than accredited voters undermine trust in our democracy.”
He called for accountability, insisting that “Democracy indeed is under attack. We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better.”
Additionally, Fintiri alleged that PDP agents were denied access to the collation centre during the counting process.
