After months of intense political activity in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the highly competitive governorship election held on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
Okpebholo, 54, garnered 291,667 votes, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) finished a distant third with 22,761 votes.
Fourteen other candidates participated in the election but received significantly fewer votes than the leading three contenders.
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“That Monday Okpebholo of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” INEC’s Returning Officer for the poll, Prof Faruk Kuta, said at exactly 09:27pm, to delightful cheers from APC supporters at the collation centre in Benin City, the state capital on Sunday.
Kuta, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, declared the winner of the poll after several recesses.
The APC candidate secured victory in over 10 of the 18 local government areas, while the PDP candidate managed narrow wins in the remaining local councils.
The APC also dominated two of the three key battleground senatorial districts in the state.
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Okpebholo was declared the winner of Saturday’s governorship election despite protests from PDP supporters, who argued that the results were fabricated and did not reflect the true will of the people.
Demonstrations erupted in parts of the state capital and outside the heavily guarded INEC collation centre. Earlier, Governor Obaseki had stormed the centre to protest the exclusion of PDP agents but was escorted out by armed security personnel.
At the collation centre, PDP agent Tony Iyoha called for the suspension of the entire election, citing alleged irregularities. Similarly, the PDP state chairman, Anthony Aziegbemi, pointed out discrepancies between figures on the EC8 form and those on INEC’s IReV platform.
The PDP Governors’ Forum also urged INEC to respect the will of Edo voters, alleging widespread electoral malpractices.
Led by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, the PDP governors questioned the accuracy of some announced results, stating they did not match those on the IReV platform.
According to INEC, 2,249,780 registered voters with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) determined Obaseki’s successor in the September 21, 2024, election.
Edo is one of eight states holding off-season governorship elections due to legal disputes and court rulings, alongside Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun, and Ondo.
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