The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Monday Okpebholo, the winner of the Edo State governorship election.
Okpebholo defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who came second, and the Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata, who finished a distant third.
INEC's returning officer for the poll, Prof. Faruk Kuta, announced at exactly 09:27pm "That Okpebholo Monday of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected."
Okpebholo, 54, polled a total of 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo, who scored 247,279. Labour Party's candidate, Olumide Akpata, finished third with 22,761 votes, while fourteen other candidates received significantly fewer votes.
Over 2.2 million eligible voters participated in the election, which involved 17 candidates and their political parties. After months of contentious campaigns, the election was held last Saturday in 4,519 polling units across the state's 18 local government areas.
The APC secured control in two of the state's three senatorial districts, emerging victorious in a keenly contested race.
Okpebholo's win was bolstered by strong backing from influential political figures, including Adams Oshiomhole, his National Assembly colleague from Edo North, and his running mate, federal lawmaker Dennis Idahosa.
The alliance also included Obaseki's estranged deputy, Philip Shaibu, further consolidating Okpebholo's support base.
This victory marks the APC's return to power at Dennis Osadebey Avenue, the seat of government, following the defection of the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, to the PDP in 2020.
Obaseki's fallout with Oshiomhole prompted him to switch parties and secure a second term under the PDP, which will end on November 12, 2024.
With Okpebholo now poised to assume office, the APC has successfully reclaimed its foothold in Edo State politics.
Okpebholo Promises to Develop Edo
The governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has promised to develop the state. He stated that he would replicate the achievements of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Okpebholo made this declaration shortly after INEC announced him as the winner of last Saturday's governorship election.
He spoke at the Benin City residence of former Governor Adams Oshiomhole, alongside other party chieftains.
Oshiomhole's residence was filled with party leaders and supporters.
Okpebholo expressed gratitude to the Edo people for their support and promised not to disappoint them.
Oshiomhole, for his part, described the victory as God's decree for Okpebholo to rectify the eight years of mismanagement under Obaseki.
He stated, "When some people say elections are about do or die, we say no, it is about choice and power--the people having the power to hire and fire, even those who have the authority to sign the death warrant. Power resides only with God.
"God has decreed that Senator Okpebholo will make up for the eight years of disaster caused by Obaseki and Ighodalo. We conducted all those campaigns without violence.
"Edo will now be governed by a man enriched with native wisdom, a man familiar with the customs and traditions of Edo State. A man who has used his personal resources to demonstrate love for the community. He has substantial credentials in terms of community service. God has put to shame those who predicted a bloodbath."
Senator Godswill Akpabio also remarked that the victory was a turning point in the politics of Edo State.
"The will of God for the people is nothing but happiness, joy, and prosperity. The outcome of the election is a reflection of the confidence Nigerians continue to express in President Ahmed Tinubu. His administration is doing its best to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria.
"What has happened in Edo is a clear reflection of what will occur in Ondo in November.
He congratulated Okpebholo and Oshiomhole for finally seeing the back of Obaseki.
Akpabio stated that Okpebholo does not need to shed blood to lead the people.
"What has happened today shows that the entire South-South will support the present administration, and this will be reflected in the 2027 election."
The Man, Okpebholo
Monday Okpebholo was born on 29 August 1970 to the family of the late Chief Peter Okpebholo of Uromi, Uwesan-Irrua, in Esan Central Local Government Area.
He attended Uromi Primary School and Ujabhole Secondary School, both in Uwesan-Irrua, and later completed his secondary education in Jos.
After finishing school, he worked for a company dealing in books and computers. He subsequently established Chapman Computers Limited and Interwebs Satcom.
Tinubu, Buhari, Others Hail Victory
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday's Edo State governorship election, on his victory at the polls.
In a statement by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu commended APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory. He says the victory testified to the people's support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic reengineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians.
The President urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari has also congratulated the All Progressives Congress and the party's governor-elect in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, following "this prized, historic electoral victory."
In a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, he expressed hope that both the leaders of the incoming administration and of the parties that lost will work together to strengthen democracy and maintain the trajectory of the state's development.
Protest at INEC Office
Upon the commencement of the formal announcement of results, aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and supporters staged a protest at the INEC secretariat in Ikpoba Hill, demanding the cancellation of the results.
A combined team of security agents mounted barricades to prevent the surging protesters from gaining access to the INEC building.
However, APC supporters celebrated the victory of Senator Okpebholo and commended INEC for delivering free, fair, and credible elections.
Obaseki Walked Out of INEC Office
Prior to the formal announcement of results by INEC, Governor Godwin Obaseki was walked out of the INEC office in Benin by DIG Frank Mba at around 4:10am.
Obaseki had entered the premises unannounced at about 2am to allegedly protest some anomalies in the collation of results from certain local government areas, including his home local council, Oredo LGA.
INEC officials reportedly informed him that he was not authorised to be there, just as they had earlier told the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
Obaseki's presence was opposed by the APC national secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, and the APC deputy governorship candidate, Hon. Dennis Idahosa.
Basiru, who stormed the premises upon hearing of Obaseki's presence, stated, "He is not a candidate. He has no reason to be here," describing the governor's actions as an abuse of office.
Earlier, Idahosa, who led protesters demanding Obaseki's exit from the premises, said, "Obaseki must come out. He is not supposed to be here. He is not an INEC staff. The Nigeria Police should not compromise."
By 3am, a combined team of policemen led by DIG Frank Mba and soldiers entered the premises, and by 4:10am, they effected the governor's exit, shouting "Leave, leave," at him.
PDP Petitions INEC Chairman, Demands Review of Collated Results
The Edo State chapter of the PDP has petitioned the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over alleged "massive irregularities" in the results from 16 local government areas that had already been collated.
PDP chairman in the state, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, made the demand in a protest letter addressed to the INEC chairman.
The letter was entitled: "Protest Against Manufactured Vote Entries and Unjust Deduction of PDP Votes in the Collation of Results of Edo State Governorship Election."
He alleged that the electoral officers appointed by INEC for the election "made entries that are totally different from the actual results as uploaded on the INEC IREV, thereby unjustly inflating votes in favour of the APC and deducting the votes of the PDP."
He cited discrepancies in the votes recorded for his party in local government areas where the APC won by wide margins.
Aziegbemi stated, "A simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit [Akoko-Edo] results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 25,010 votes while 34,847 votes were recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
"For the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV is 18,620, but 15,865 were returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
"It would interest you to note that in Ward 9 Akoko Edo LGA, from the 36 polling unit results uploaded on the IREV, the total votes obtained by the APC is 2,350 while 9,104 were entered into the EC8B result for the APC. The total votes for the PDP is 1,359 while 633 were entered in the EC8B.
"Also, in Ward 6 Akoko Edo LGA, where elections did not hold in Ward 6 Units 12, 17, 15, 18, 14, and 16, results were returned for the said polling units in the Ward Result sheet (EC8B)," Aziegbemi said.
He further explained that a simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 10,972 votes while 16,760 votes were recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
He added, "For the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV totals 14,485, but 14,658 were returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
"It would interest you to note that the collation for Egor LGA was not done at the designated LGA centre but was moved to the INEC State HQ, and the PDP agent was not allowed access to be part of the exercise."
The Edo PDP chairman also cited examples of deductions of votes from his party's scores, stating, "The record for Etsako West LGA on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 29,858 votes while 32,107 votes were recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
He explained: "For the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV is 16,712 but 17,483 were returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
"The above-highlighted irregularities, which are very apparent, are extremely scandalous and represent a bold attempt to steal the mandate of the PDP, which is also a terrible embarrassment to the commission.
"We therefore demand the immediate re-collation and recomputation of the actual results for the various polling units in the above-highlighted local government areas in compliance with the INEC guidelines and regulations which mandate that votes from various units and wards be properly collated."
PDP Governors to INEC: Altering Results Threatens Democracy
Meanwhile, the PDP Governors Forum and the national leadership of the PDP have tasked INEC to announce results that truly represent the wishes of the Edo people.
They also backed an earlier call by the chairman of the Edo PDP National Campaign Council, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, who insisted that results from local governments indicated that the PDP candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, won the election.
Fintiri, accompanied by his Taraba State counterpart, Agbu Kefas, had during a press conference asked INEC not to tamper with the results.
The Adamawa State governor, at the conference attended by Obaseki and Ighodalo, also read out some results from local government areas, insisting that INEC should not alter them.
Obaseki explained that he visited the INEC secretariat to clarify why the results collation was moved from the wards to the INEC collation centre.
Obaseki stated he was at the INEC office to meet the Resident Electoral Commissioner after receiving reports that the commission had stopped collation.
He said, "At about 1am, I got a report that collation was supposed to have been moved to the INEC head office. I also received reports from our agents that PDP agents were not allowed into the collation centre. At that point, I called the REC to find an explanation of what was going on. There was no response.
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"Then I went to the INEC office to meet with the REC and to understand what steps INEC was taking to continue the process of collation. When I arrived at about 2amM, I did not see any collation taking place, and the REC refused to come out to explain the situation."
Fintiri's announcement of results drew criticism from the APC, which accused him of violating election guidelines, which stipulate that only INEC can announce results.
However, defending their colleague and party member, the PDP Governors Forum and the party's national leadership stated that Fintiri did not usurp INEC's responsibility by announcing results from the local government while insisting that the commission should declare the authentic results.
A statement by Bala Mohammed, the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Bauchi State governor, said the forum is satisfied with the role played by the PDP governors.
"We are satisfied that our colleagues, led by His Excellency Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, simply stated the results of a few local government areas as already collated and captured on the INEC IREV portal, intending to forestall any manipulation by unscrupulous elements and, ultimately, averting a situation that could throw the exercise into disrepute and the nation into political jeopardy.
"Therefore, the public is advised to disregard the mischievous accusation by the APC that anyone usurped INEC's responsibility, let alone distinguished Nigerians who are governors in their respective states."
The governors reminded INEC of the need for its principal officers to live up to their oath of office and the expectations of the people, which is to serve as impartial umpires committed to deepening multi-party democracy and the country's survival.
"As the country perches on the horns of grave economic and security challenges, it is our expectation that INEC and everyone involved in the Edo Governorship Elections will respect the sovereign wishes of the people of Edo State and spare the nation the unpredictable consequences of a disputed result at this time. This becomes more imperative, especially in the face of the threat to democracy by the total state capture inclination of the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress government."
On its part, the national publicity secretary of PDP, Hon Debo Ologunagba, said it stands by the results garnered by its polling agents across the state and echoed by Fintiri.
The PDP said the rush, venom and hauling of insults with which APC attacked Governor Fintiri confirmed a desperation to cover up manipulations and steal the mandate freely given to Ighodalo.
"The PDP in the strongest terms cautions the APC and INEC not to announce or declare any result that does not reflect the Will of the people as expressed at the Polling Units. Such will be a recipe for a huge crisis in the state as the people of Edo State will never allow their mandate in illegitimate hands.
"Any attempt to change the Edo State governorship election results and allocate victory to a defeated candidate will provoke worse consequences.
"INEC must, therefore, do that which is right in the interest of peace, stability and sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria."
