Edo PDP boycotts local government by-elections, calling them illegal and contemptuous of a subsisting court order

Edo PDP has described Saturday’s local government by-elections in the state as “illegal and contemptuous of the judiciary,” insisting that the exercise violated a subsisting court order.

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Speaking on Saturday, the caretaker chairman of the party, Tony Aziegbemi, explained why the PDP boycotted the polls organised by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) across 59 wards.

He argued that the election ran directly against a ruling of the Edo State High Court delivered by Justice Mary Itsueli, which ordered that the seats of duly elected councillors remain valid until September 2026.

The same order, he said, restrained EDSIEC and the state government from conducting the exercise.

“For the state government to ignore this order and proceed is alarming,” Aziegbemi said, adding that security agencies must not confer legitimacy on what he termed a contemptuous process.

“The tenure of the elected council chairmen and councillors has not expired. We have five court judgments affirming this. To now conduct a by-election is unlawful, and the PDP will not be part of such illegality,” he maintained.

Aziegbemi further alleged that the by-election was a ploy to divert public resources. “It is just a waste of taxpayers’ money to share among APC leaders. Most political parties in the state are not participating because they know it has no legal basis,” he said.

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The PDP chairman stressed that the party would instead concentrate on consolidating its internal structures through congresses and preparing for the 2027 general elections.