Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Edo elections has denied the party was involved in vote buying during the polls.

He made this known during an interview on Channels Television Politics Today program.

Ighodalo, one of the major contestants in the election, lost polling 247,274 votes while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Monday Okpebholo, the election winner, polled 291,667 votes.

Olumide Akpata, the candidate of the Labour Paty came a distant third polling 22,761 votes.

The PDP candidate alleged that the All Progressives Congress offered minted notes of between N10,000 and N20,000 for votes, adding that the APC undermined the election with the support of INEC.

“We were not involved in vote buying at all. APC agents and other agents came with notes straight from the CBN or from the banks, mint notes, and they were offering N25,000, N30,000, and N50,000 per vote. What our guys did was to go to them and harass them and tell them that you can’t come here to buy votes. But we were not engaged in vote buying in any way, I’m clear about that”.

“We didn’t even need to go and buy votes. The people of Edo State were solidly with us, solidly. It’s only when you’re not sure of your capability you cannot perform. That’s when you do underhand things. And APC, through this election, with the connivance, complicity and support of INEC, undermined the whole democratic process.”, he stated.

Meanwhile, INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Edo State, Rhoda Gumus, presented the Certificates of Return to Governor-Elect Monday Okpebholo and his Deputy, Dennis Idahosa, on Thursday, five days after the elections.