Major opposition parties in Edo State are boycotting Saturday’s local government election, leaving the contest effectively an affair of the ruling All Progressives Congress despite the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission listing 12 parties as officially participating.
EDSIEC Chairman Jonathan Aifuobhokhan said the accredited parties include the APC, Accord Party, Action Peoples Party, Peoples Redemption Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, Allied Peoples Movement, Young Progressives Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, Action Democratic Party, African Action Congress, Zenith Labour Party and Action Alliance, and said the commission has spent months building the legal, administrative and operational frameworks needed to ensure the election complies with the constitution, relevant electoral laws and internationally accepted democratic standards, with all sensitive and non sensitive materials produced, inspected, sorted and packaged for distribution, including special logistics arranged for riverine and hard to reach communities so no eligible voter is disenfranchised. Despite those assurances, several heavyweight parties will simply not appear on the ballot, citing a lack of confidence in the underlying process.
The Peoples Democratic Party, until recently the state’s major opposition force, has fully disassociated itself from the exercise. In a statement titled Illegality Cannot Produce Legitimacy, the Tony Aziegbemi led faction said its State Executive Committee decided on July 1, 2026 to boycott the poll, rooted in the party’s commitment to the constitution, the rule of law and democratic governance. Aziegbemi cited the dissolution of democratically elected local government chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors and their replacement with unelected caretaker committees, in violation of Section 7(1) of the constitution, along with the dissolution of EDSIEC itself before the expiration of its statutory tenure and its replacement with a new commission to conduct the disputed election, and the state’s refusal to obey eight High Court judgments reinstating elected council chairmen. A process founded on constitutional violations cannot produce a legitimate democratic outcome, he argued, insisting the PDP cannot in good conscience participate in an exercise designed to validate unconstitutional actions, since doing so would amount to endorsing lawlessness and betraying the democratic mandate of Edo’s people, and directed all party units, wards, local government executives, members and supporters to stay away from the process while the party pursues lawful, constitutional means to defend democracy.
African Democratic Congress factional chairman Kennedy Odion said his party is boycotting because EDSIEC refused to sign a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing that electoral materials reach every unit, ward and local government, and because the commission failed to demonstrate the independence needed to ensure a free, fair and credible process. National Democratic Party state secretary Peter Ajube said he was not even aware his party would be participating, noting the election’s preparatory processes were largely complete before the NDC established a presence in the state.
Ahead of the vote, the Edo State Police Command announced a movement restriction across the state from midnight to 3pm on Saturday, part of security measures meant to guarantee a peaceful process alongside other agencies, protecting voters, officials and sensitive materials while preventing any breakdown of law and order. All vehicular and human movement is prohibited during the restricted period except for INEC officials, accredited observers, accredited media, security agencies and essential service providers on election duty, with police warning that anyone violating the restriction or disrupting the process will face legal consequences. Commissioner of Police Monday Agbonika reassured residents that adequate security arrangements are in place and urged them to exercise their civic responsibility peacefully in line with EDSIEC’s guidelines.
