Ondo guber election worst performance yet by INEC — PDP

• PDP described Ondo State’s governorship election as the worst conducted by INEC, citing widespread vote buying and manipulation by APC
• PDP plans to conduct a detailed review of the election outcome and take action to defend Nigeria’s democracy

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described Saturday’s Ondo State governorship election as the worst ever conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In response to the electoral body’s declaration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the poll on Sunday, the main opposition party said in a statement released by its national spokesperson, Debo Ologunagba, that the party, and indeed all lovers of democracy in Nigeria and around the world, had just witnessed the worst election conducted by INEC in the country’s history.

It stated that the November 16, 2024 governorship election in Ondo State fell short of all expectations and requirements for a free, fair, and credible election, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) engaging in unprecedented electoral swindling, deceit, and manipulation.

According to the PDP, this election witnessed widespread election merchandising, monetization, and barefaced vote buying by the APC and its apparatus in government to suppress the genuine aspiration of the people.

“This devious practice by the APC was rampant and pervasive because the APC has utterly impoverished Nigerians and turned poverty into a weapon of mass subjugation which enabled it to manipulate the election and its outcome.

“We call the attention of all Nigerians and the International Community to this reprehensible practice by the APC as widely witnessed in the November 16, 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State and we demand that a serious action be taken to stem such if Nigeria’s democracy must survive,” it said.

The statement informed that in the meantime, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP will be conducting a more detailed review of the election and its outcome and “take appropriate action in the defence of our democracy.”