The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the Edo State 2024 governorship election held last Saturday, September 21.
According to the electoral body, Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to beat his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the contest, Mr Asue Ighodalo who gathered 247,655 votes.
Okpebholo bettered his rival with 44,012 votes to emerge victorious in the exercise.
The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olumide Akpata came third with a total of 22,763 votes.
Okpebholo won 11 of the 18 local councils of the state but one of the three senatorial districts.
He won convincingly in Edo North where the former governor of the state, Mr Adams Oshiomhole comes from but lost his Edo Central and Edo South to Ighodalo, who is also from Edo Central.
In Edo North, the result showed that APC candidate polled 130,684 votes compared to PDP’s 76,959 votes and LP’s 5,987.
In Edo Central it was APC (48,895); PDP (54,813) and LP (1,546). And in Edo South, it was Okpebholo (112,088 votes); Ighodalo (115,502) and Akpata (15,230).
The 11 LGAs that Okpebholo won including Governor Godwin Obaseki’s Orhionmwon are Etsako West, Etsako East, Akoko Edo, Owan East, Owan West, Etsako Central, Esan West, Esan North-East, Esan central, Egor, and Oredo.
Ighodalo had the upper hand in seven area councils namely Esan North-East, Esan South-East, Igueben, Ovia North-East, Ovia South-West, Uhunwonde and Ikpoba-Okha.
In his post victory speech, Okpebholo said the Edo people had voted for the “right person” for the job and should expect the best from him.
“Edo people have elected the right person for the job. A new Edo is rising. I am here to develop Edo State, I want to transform Edo the way it should be.
“I want to tell you that I will start from where Adams Oshiomhole stopped. Edo will receive a new transformation and by the grace of God, Edo will stand firm,” he said.
In his reaction, the state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki said in a statement that the election was marred with disregard to processes and rule of law but urged citizens “to remain calm and not resort to violence.”
The statement reads: “In the last few months, the various political parties have embarked on very rigorous campaigns to sell their respective candidates for the office of governor to the people of Edo State in an exercise which came to a climax yesterday with the gubernatorial election.
“The attractive thing about democracy is the power it bestows on the people to choose who governs them. Therefore, when this power is blatantly seized from the people, it is not just a tragedy, but a travesty of democracy.
“Regrettably, the outcome of the September 21st governorship election appears to have daunted the spirit of many Edo people who feel powerless in the face of the brute force of the institutions that are supposed to protect them. “It is therefore understandable that many people feel sad and aggrieved.
“But in the midst of this despair, I am urging all my fellow Edo citizens to maintain calm and not resort to violence and destruction of property in spite of this provocation.
“Peace and justice will always win in the end and this is my prescription to all the good people of Edo State who feel vexed and violated at this time.
“Clearly, it is obvious to the least discerning, the amount of impunity and reckless disregard for processes and law that was displayed in this gubernatorial election.
“In a democracy, there are safeguards for addressing grievances, and we hope that those affected will seek resolution for this blatant disregard of law and process.
“With this in mind, I implore all Edo people to go about their lawful businesses and rest assured of the commitment of our government to your well-being and security.”
Earlier, election observer groups had raised concerns about the transparency of the INEC in the governorship election.
The election observer groups made their position known in a statement jointly signed by the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, Yiaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, ElectHER and TAF Africa.
The statement reads: “We, the undersigned accredited civil society organisations observing the 2024 Edo Governorship Election, express concern over the transparency of the ongoing results collation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Reports of disruptions at ward and local government collation centres, including intimidation of INEC officials and attempts to collate results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, raise significant concerns about the credibility of the results collation process.
“We acknowledge INEC’s recent statement recognising reports of result mutilation and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.
“In light of this, we urge INEC to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC regulations, and guidelines.
“We further call on security agencies to refrain from interference in the collation process and to ensure that accredited party agents, the media, and election observers are granted full access to collation centres.
“We wish to emphasise that the role of security agencies in the election is to safeguard the process and not to create a situation that will undermine the transparency of the process and thus impact negatively on the credibility of the outcome of the election.”
