Labour Party’s Akpata Tells Why He Won’t Take Case To Edo Guber Election Tribunal

Olumide Akpata, the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2024 Edo State gubernatorial election, says he will not approach the election tribunal to overturn the verdict.

Akpata, who came third in the election won by Monday Okpebholo, the flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress, claimed he won but was rigged when the result was released.

The election was held on Saturday, September 21, 2024, and the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, September 22, 2024.

However, he says he will not be seeking judicial redress by approaching the tribunal, which is the first step.

In the face of emerging speculations over his decision, the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association explained, “My decision not to approach the tribunal is not a capitulation to injustice but a resolute stand against a flawed system.”

He added, “I choose to rise above the quagmire of protracted legal battles that often serve to legitimize a fundamentally compromised process.”

Providing insight into his next line of action, Akpata divulged that, “Instead, I commit myself to the arduous but necessary task of systemic reform. Our fight transcends the confines of a courtroom; it is a battle for the very soul of our democracy.”

Unlike the Labour Party flagbearer, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Asue Ighodalo, who came second, has initiated the process to challenge the result that gave victory to Okpebholo and the APC.

Ighodalo is the choice of outgoing Governor Godwin Obaseki, a chieftain of the PDP, as his successor.