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JUST IN: PDP Govs Forum declare Asue Ighodalo winner of Edo guber poll
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and the national leadership of the party have asserted that Asue Ighodalo, their candidate in Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, is the clear winner, based on results collected by the party’s agents across the state.
This comes as governors elected under the major opposition party expressed their support for Ahmadu Fintiri’s stance on the already collated results from some local government areas in the Edo State governorship election, before the suspension of the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They urged the electoral body to respect the sovereign will of the people for the sake of democracy’s survival.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the PDP Governors Forum (PDP GF), the governors urged the electoral body to spare the nation the unpredictable consequences of a disputed result at this time.
“This becomes more imperative, especially in the face of the threat to democracy by the total state capture inclination of the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government,” the forum declared.
The statement also noted that the Adamawa State governor, who chairs the PDP Edo State Governorship Campaign Council, merely presented the results on INEC’s IREV to prevent the manipulation of the suspended collation.
Signed by its chairman and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, the forum also expressed satisfaction with other PDP governors who monitored the exercise in accordance with the law
The governors advised INEC officials to honor their oath as impartial electoral arbiters to ensure the survival of the nation’s democracy.
The forum stated: “We note with immense pride and satisfaction the role played by PDP Governors, including His Excellency Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State, His Excellency Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, His Excellency Governor Dr. Agbu Kefas of Taraba State, and His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Francis Oborevwori, Governor of Delta State, who have painstakingly monitored the exercise in accordance with the law and guided the electorate to remain calm and law-abiding throughout the entire process.
“We are satisfied that our colleagues, led by His Excellency Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, merely stated the results of a few local government areas that were already collated and recorded on the INEC IREV portal, aiming to prevent manipulation by unscrupulous elements and, ultimately, avert a situation that could discredit the exercise and endanger the nation politically.
“Therefore, the public is advised to disregard the baseless accusations made by the APC that anyone usurped INEC’s responsibilities, particularly the distinguished governors serving in their respective states.
“As the process continues, we remind the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of its obligation to honor the oath of office taken by its principal officers and meet the expectations of the public. INEC must serve as an impartial umpire committed to strengthening our multi-party democracy and ensuring the survival of our country.
“Amid the grave economic and security challenges facing the nation, we expect INEC and everyone involved in the Edo Governorship Elections to respect the sovereign will of the Edo State people and spare the nation the unpredictable consequences of a disputed result at this time. This becomes even more urgent, given the threat to democracy posed by the total state capture inclination of the Tinubu-led APC government.
“The PDPGF unequivocally reiterates its commitment to democratic best practices, as well as the peace and stability of a united Nigeria, where citizens are not only spared the contrived ordeals of the moment but are also provided with opportunities to realize their legitimate dreams.
“We anticipate the announcement of a result that truly represents the wishes of the Edo people as freely expressed through their votes yesterday.
“Finally, we stand with our Governors—His Excellency Fintiri, His Excellency Diri, His Excellency Agbu Kefas, and His Excellency Oborevwori of Adamawa, Bayelsa, Taraba, and Delta States respectively—regarding all actions and positions they have taken on our behalf, to maintain the sanctity of the elections.”
While commending the people of Edo State for turning out in large numbers to vote in Saturday’s exercise to choose their next leaders, the statement praised the quality of service provided by Governor Godwin Obaseki over nearly eight years, as well as the qualities of their governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, which the forum said would have made it easier for the enlightened Edo electorate to make the right choice, especially given the hardship that the APC administration is spreading nationwide.
In a separate statement, the national leadership of the main opposition party maintained that its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, clearly won the Edo State election based on the results gathered by its polling agents across the state.
Issued on Sunday by Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary, the statement asserted that “the rush, venom, and insults with which the All Progressives Congress (APC) attacked Governor Fintiri only confirm the APC’s violent desperation to cover up its manipulations and steal the mandate freely given to Dr. Asue Ighodalo by the people of Edo State, as reflected in the genuine votes cast at the polling units.”
It stated: “As Governor Fintiri presented, the results collated from the polling units show Asue Ighodalo in a clear lead before the state collation exercise was hijacked by the APC, which, in connivance with some unscrupulous INEC and security officials, engaged in blatant alteration and substitution of the genuine results with fabricated figures in favor of the defeated APC candidate.”
The PDP recalled that it had repeatedly alerted Nigerians to this sinister plot by the APC, which will be firmly resisted, as the APC and its candidate, Monday Okpebholo, were thoroughly defeated in the election.
The statement added: “The PDP strongly cautions the APC and INEC against announcing or declaring any result that does not reflect the will of the people as expressed at the polling units. Doing so would be a recipe for a major crisis in the state, as the people of Edo State will never allow their mandate to fall into illegitimate hands.
“Our party again cautions INEC not to forget the violent protest that followed the criminal attempt by the former Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mallam Hudu Ari, to alter the outcome of the 2023 Governorship election in that state, which nearly led to the death of some INEC officials.
“Any attempt to alter the results of the Edo State governorship election and allocate victory to a defeated candidate will provoke even worse consequences.
“INEC must, therefore, do what is right in the interest of peace, stability, and the preservation of democracy in Nigeria.”
By Francesca Hangeior
Formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, he hails from the United States and is the first American to be elected pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
A member of the Augustinian order and former Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Pope Leo XIV brings decades of pastoral and administrative experience to the papacy.
He is a moderate who was close to Pope Francis and spent years as a missionary in Peru, he becomes the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff, taking the papal name Leo XIV.
Finally, white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel on the evening of Thursday, May 8, signalling that the Vatican has elected a new Pope. The cardinal selected to succeed Pope Francis will be announced in due course.
On Wednesday, 133 cardinals entered the chapel for a deeply choreographed ritual that has preceded the election of every Pope since 1179. The first session started with a vow of secrecy—excommunication awaits anyone who leaks details of the votes—followed by the vote.
Once the numbers were tallied, the votes were burned in a special stove set up inside the chapel. Yesterday’s black smoke informed the public that the cardinals had yet to make their decision.
The papal conclave is a centuries-old process with modern-day consequences.
Francis’ 12-year pontificate was pivotal, not just for the church, but for the globe. His advocacy for care of migrants and the poor, his tolerance for homosexuality, and his denunciation of climate change and conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine helped reset the world’s moral compass.
Yet within the church, his reformist interpretation of church doctrine—”Who am I to judge?” he famously responded when asked to weigh in on gay priests—set off a polarizing struggle between modernists and traditionalists. So too has his big tent inclusivity that welcomed practitioners of all kinds, and invited many of them, even members of the LGBTQ community and lay women, to sit with bishops and contribute their thoughts on the direction of the church in meetings called synods. It is this vision of synodality—the church as a listening one instead of a top-down enforcer of doctrine—that is at the core of Francis’ progressivism, and the biggest threat to traditionalists who want to maintain the power and influence of bishops and cardinals.
Every conclave, at its most fundamental, is a referendum on the previous pope’s legacy. Behind closed doors and sworn to secrecy, the cardinals will have had to decide if the new pope is one to continue on Francis’ radically inclusive path, or someone who will roll back his policies in favor of a more inward-looking church focused on doctrine.
That will have repercussions in a tense historical moment of religious and ethnic strife exacerbated by conflict, climate change, rising nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment are coming to the fore, says Alberto Melloni, a Vatican historian who is the director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Sciences in Bologna, Italy. There are relatively few global figures who can move opinion, drive conversation, and call for change like a pope. “It will be very different if we have a pope who is more worried about ideological topics of tradition than someone who makes the unity of the human family and care for the planet the first point in his agenda,” says Melloni.
There are 252 cardinals, but only those under the age of 80 took part in the conclave. Of the 133 cardinals that voted, Francis appointed 108.
Over the past several years, Francis sought to elevate bishops from underrepresented places such as Myanmar, Rwanda, and East Timor to the college of cardinals to better represent the scope of global Catholicism. Coming from wildly varying cultural backgrounds, they do not align on any consistent ideological spectrum. Many of them are more conservative on issues of homosexuality and women, even if they embrace Francis’ focus on other kinds of inclusivity. That made for a very unpredictable vote, says Melloni. “It is not liberals vs. conservatives. It is not donkeys and elephants facing one another across the aisle. It is a collage of people divided into very small groups,” aligned by theological leanings, doctrinal philosophy, or missionary experience.
Given the stakes, the competing agendas, and the constantly shifting micro alliances and priorities, it was impossible to predict from the outset who will ultimately get support from two-thirds of a very divided electorate, faced with one of the most, if not the most, important decisions of their career. “The only thing we can say with any confidence is that we’ll have a male pope,” says Melloni, when pressed to hazard a guess for the outcome ahead of the papal election.
Most of the politicking has already been done, conducted in private over informal meetings and at dinners in the nearby guesthouse where the cardinals stay. Overt campaigning is frowned upon, but it is not uncommon for trusted “kingmaker” cardinals to push for the candidates that share their values and vision for the church.
Once a papal election starts, the cardinals cannot leave the conclave except in rare cases, and they are cut off from the rest of the word, with no access to phones, the internet or even newspapers (the word conclave comes from the Latin “with key,” as in, locked up.)
Inside the chapel, the electors share a brief prayer and take an oath to observe the sanctity of the process before handwriting the name of their chosen candidate on a piece of folded paper. One by one, the cardinals will deposit their votes in a special urn. Once voting is done, the votes are tallied, then burned.
At the same time, the lawmakers also called on the President to take immediate steps by deploying security forces to the most affected areas, particularly Bokkos and Bassa—and to extend protection to other communities at risk.
Lawmakers also pressed for urgent humanitarian action, as relief items were requested for those caught in the crisis, and the ministry responsible for humanitarian matters was told to design a long-term recovery plan for the devastated villages.
This decision came after a motion was raised by Rep. Daniel Asama, who stressed the need to act swiftly. He pointed out that people living in and around Jos, especially in Bokkos and Bassa have endured wave after wave of attacks.
He painted a grim picture: “Families torn apart, homes burned down, farms abandoned, and entire communities uprooted. He insisted the violence must end and the displaced must be supported before the situation worsens.
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