- Safiu Kehinde
It was a moment of tears for Asue Ighodalo’s Campaign Director General, Emmanuel Odigie, who wept over vote buying and results manipulation observed at the just concluded Edo governorship election.
Odigie broke down in tears on live broadcast on Tuesday while speaking in an interview.
While accusing the All Progressive Congress (APC) and some ‘negative’ supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of indulging in vote buying, Odigie narrated how he met some Edo indigenes in diaspora who came to Nigeria to vote for the PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
According to the campaign DG, the women had expressed their disappointment in the Tinubu administration which they thought would uphold the tenets of democracy.
He said he broke down to tears as the women narrated their ordeal.
“Accusing PDP of being part of this nonsense is funny. Of course we have the negative PDP that pulled out to support APC to perpetuate this evil on Edo people.
“For the first time in my life, I was broken down before women at the airport yesterday.
“I saw four women, two from Houston, two from Atlanta Georgia. They said they are coming to Nigeria to vote for the first time.
“In tears, they told me they will never return to Nigeria that they thought with Asiwaju, with what they saw him do in Lagos with the way he fought for this democracy, that he will be the one to uphold democracy.
“I say to myself, how can we get it right? Over 200 Edo indigenes in diaspora came to vote and mobilize for Asue Ighodalo.
“If they did this evil to project the best candidate that has the intellectual depth and capacity to articulate and do what is right to take Edo to the next level, I won’t be feeling this bad.” Odigie said amid tears.
Recall that the All Progressive Congress’ (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, had emerged winner of the just concluded Edo election.
He won with 291,667 vote, defeating, PDP’s Ighodalo who recorded 247,274 votes.