The People's Democratic Party (PDP) claims to have been leading in the recently concluded governorship elections by more than 45,000 votes before their mandate was stolen.

This information was revealed by Olu Martins, the Deputy Director General of the Asue-Ogie Governorship Campaign Council, during a press conference on Wednesday, September 25.

Martins stated that the party was already celebrating their victory in the election before it was allegedly taken away from them.

He explained that they were confident of victory after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released 95 percent of the results.

“We were already jubilating because by the time the result of the election got to 95 per cent, you know where you have won or not and even if the remaining five per cent voted for APC, we would have won the election with over 45,000 votes.

“But when we got to the collation centre, things changed as the police said they were on a mission and that whoever can’t stomach it should leave,” he said.

Martins alleged that the electoral competition was not with the All Progressives Congress (APC) but with the PDP, the Nigeria Police, and INEC.

He noted that, as a result of the alleged stolen mandate, APC is not celebrating their “illegal mandate.”

He also added that the party cannot congratulate the governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, because the election was not free and fair, alleging that it was the worst election INEC has ever conducted in Nigeria.

“For us, despite what INEC announced, the governorship election contest was not between the PDP and the APC, who has now been announced as the winner.

“But the contestation is between the PDP and the police and INEC; the two of them collude together to rape democracy and declare who they have declared the winner.

“How do you explain that the whole world followed the result on the IREV and saw the result and if they wanted it to end that way, they wouldn’t have introduced the IReV.

“The form EC8 is the most important document in this election because it is the form where the election that took place in over 4000 polling units was imputed and any other form is from the collation centre and what you saw in IReV were results from polling units.

“By 9 pm on Saturday, 95 per cent of the results of over 4000 units were already posted on the IReV and once it is posted, you can begin your calculation and that was what we did in our situation room.

“When the APC saw that they were losing, they moved to Plan B and my problem is not with the APC or whoever it is that wants to take advantage of the porous system.

“But my problem is that it is impossible to rig an election or subvert the will of the people without the active connivance of the INEC, who is the umpire of the election and the security agents,” he alleged.

The returning officer, Professor Faruk Adamu Kuta, announced that the APC candidate garnered a total of 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 22,763 votes.

Kuta, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, said the APC won the highest number of votes in 11 out of the state’s 18 local government areas; while the PDP led in seven.

“That Okpebholo Monday of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected”, Kuta declared.