•Asue Ighodalo
Governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP)in the September 21 governorship election, Asue Ighodalo, says he feels betrayed by the Supreme Court judgement, which affirmed Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the election.
In statement issued today, the lawyer said the judgement did not amount to justice.
“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,” he said.
“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”.
According to him, what happened in the September 2024 governorship election was not a contest but a robbery, which he said “now, tragically validated by the highest court in the land.
“While I will not and cannot obstruct any judicial pronouncement, no matter how flawed, I must never fear to speak truth to power”.
He said the people may not have won the office, but “we have found one another and discovered our collective strength.
“Though this painful chapter closes today, our beautiful story does not end. The struggle to reclaim the soul of our beloved state continues. Yes, dark days may lie ahead. I fear Edo will feel it in the absence of leadership, in the poverty of policy, and in the daily suffering of her people.”
Ighodalo, however, charged Okpebholo to lead with humility and govern with conscience, “as history sees what the courts may not and it will one day deliver its own verdict”.
