..Tinubu, Buhari Congratulate Okpebholo
…PDP Rejects Results Over Alleged Irregularities
‘I Weep For Nigeria Over Edo Poll,’ Adamawa Gov Fintiri Says, Alleges
Daud Olatunji & Enoch Oyedibu
Monday Okpebholo, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been declared the winner of the Edo state governorship election.
Farouk Adamu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer, announced the results in Benin City, the Edo state capital, on Sunday.
“I, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, I certify that I’m the returning officer for the Edo state governorship election held on September 21, 2024,” he said.
“That Monday Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.”
Okpebholo, a senator, won the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled. 247,274 votes.
Olumide Akpata, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), came distant third with 22, 763 votes.
The APC won the election in 11 out of the 18 LGAs in Edo while the PDP secured victories in the remaining seven LGAs.
The off-cycle election in the south-south state was contested by 17 candidates.
Prior to the final declaration, some PDP supporters staged a protest against the collation of the election results in Benin.
The demonstration took place near the INEC headquarters where the results were collated.
During the collation of the results, Tony Iyoha, a PDP agent at the collation centre, alleged electoral fraud, claiming that some results were “manufactured” in favour of the APC.
… Tinubu, Buhari Congratulate Okpebholo
President Bola Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari have congratulated the governor-elect over his victory.
Tinubu in a statement on Sunday by Bayo Onanuga,his special adviser on media and strategy, asked Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory.
Tinubu commended the APC leaders for working hard to achieve victory in Edo state, while urging aggrieved parties to seek redress in court.
“President Bola Tinubu congratulates Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election, on his victory at the polls,” the statement reads.
“He urges Senator Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service. He encourages him to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development.
“I commend the INEC and our security agencies for working round the clock to conduct a successful, peaceful and largely hitch-free exercise.”
Buhari, in a statement by Garba Shehu, his spokesperson, has also congratulated Okpebholo for his victory in the election.
Buhari, who described the outcome as “historic electoral victory”, urged the winners and the losers to work together to promote democracy in the state.
The former president also commended the law enforcement agencies for their efforts in ensuring a peaceful election.
“Congratulations to the APC and the election winner, Senator Monday Okpebholo on the historic electoral victory and my warmest wishes for a new lease of life for Edo State and its people,” Buhari said.
…PDP Rejects Results Over Alleged Irregularities
The Peoples Democratic Party has rejected the results of the Edo State governorship election over alleged irregularities and breach of due process in the collation of results.
The party which came second with its candidate, Asue Ighodalo scoring a total of 247,274 votes, petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding the return “all coalition at the wards, local governments to their lawful venues”.
The PDP collation agent in the election, Dr Iyoha Tony, made the demands in the petition in which the party alleged “fragrant disregard and breach of the electoral process in the collation of results of Edo State Governorship Election held on 21st September, 2024.”
The petition issued on Sunday and signed by Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, Edo State PDP Chairman, reads, “It has come to our attention that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin-City, Edo State, has taken steps to violently disregard and breach the stipulated process for the conduct of the ongoing Edo State Governorship election.
“Aside from the widespread failure and refusal to use the mandatory BVAS Machine for accreditation of voters in the voting centres in Edo North, there is the intentional refusal by electoral officers at various levels to duly and properly collate the election results in line with the mandatory provisions of the INEC Regulations.
“The officers of INEC have illegally and unlawfully moved the collation of Wards and Local Government results from the designated places to the INEC State Headquarters reportedly to give room for manipulation of the results in fragrant contravention of the provisions regulating the process.
“Of direct relevance are the provisions of the Part III Paragraphs 44-49 of the REGULATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS, 2022, which provides as follows;
“‘44. Collation and declaration of results shall take place at locations designated by the Commission.
“45. Collation and Returning Officers as appointees of the Commission, shall abide by the oath of loyalty….. and act in accordance with extant Regulations and Guidelines of the Commission.
“47. The Collation and declaration of election results shall be done at the following levels depending on the type of election: i) Registration Area-RA/Ward (Collation for all elections)…
“ii) Local Government Area -LGA/Area Council (Collation for all elections).”
He added, “Furthermore, it is apparent from the available records that the number of accredited voters on the BVAS Machine does not tally with the results returned from Estako West and Estako East LGAs, also in fragrant disregard to the provisions of the INEC Regulations.
“Clearly, results from polling units particularly in Estako West, Estako East, Akoko Edo LGAs as well as Ikpoba-Okha Ward 10, where the BVAS accreditation records are less than the votes returned must not be accepted for collation.”
According to him, “Following from the above, we demand: To query the BVAS machine in the aforementioned LGAS. Return all collation at the wards, local governments to their lawful venues.”
… ‘I Weep For Nigeria Over Edo Poll,’ Adamawa Gov Fintiri Says, Alleges
Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of bias towards the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the Edo State Governorship Election, Monday Okpebholo.
Governor Fintiri, who chairs the Edo PDP National Campaign Council, earlier alleged that the APC, in collaboration with some INEC officials and security personnel, hijacked the election process.
He alleged that the APC engaged in fabricating results to favour its candidate, Okpebholo.
“The results collated from the polling units have Asue Ighodalo in clear lead before the state collation exercise was hijacked by the APC,” he said earlier on Sunday.
In a post on his official X account, Fintiri said, “I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll.
The @OfficialAPCNg’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas.
“What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their Governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters.
“This blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage. Nigerians are outraged, slamming @inecnigeria for compromising and favouring APC. The reported vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results with more votes than accredited voters undermine trust in our democracy.
“Democracy indeed is under attack. We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better.”
#EdoDecides2024: See Full Results as APC Candidate Wins Edo Election
Below are the election results:
Igueben LG
Registered voters – 54,549
Accredited voters – 15,274
APC – 5,907
PDP – 8,470
LP – 494
Total valid votes – 14,989
Rejected votes – 278
Total votes cast – 15,267
Esan West LG
Registered voters – 113,067
Accredited voters – 25,702
APC – 12,952
PDP – 11,004
LP – 342
Total valid votes – 24,691
Rejected votes -693
Total votes cast – 25,384
Uhunmwonde LG
Registered voters – 92,169
Accredited voters – 20,044
APC – 8,776
PDP – 9,339
LP – 769
Total valid votes – 19,223
Rejected votes – 553
Total votes cast -19,776
Owan West LG
Registered voters – 67,076
Accredited voters – 24,311
APC – 12,277
PDP – 11,284
LP – 201
Total valid votes -23,904
Rejected votes – 391
Total votes cast – 24,295
Ovia North-East LG
Registered voters – 177,106
Accredited voters – 32,441
APC – 13,225
PDP – 15,311
LP – 1,675
Total valid votes – 30,783
Rejected votes – 1,312
Total votes cast – 32,095
Esan South-East LG
Registered voters – 90,240
Accredited voters – 23,390
APC – 8,398
PDP – 14,199
LP – 98
Total valid votes – 22,780
Rejected votes – 356
Total votes cast – 23,136
Egor LG
Registered voters – 242,266
Accredited voters – 35,463
APC – 16,760
PDP – 14,658
LP – 1,966
Total valid votes – 34,022
Rejected votes – 1,018
Total votes cast – 35,040
Akoko Edo LG
Registered voters – 144,379
Accredited voters – 54,395
APC – 34,847
PDP – 15,865
LP – 2, 239
Total valid votes – 53,547
Rejected votes – 331
Total votes cast – 53,878
Esan Central LG
Registered voters – 68,338
Accredited voters – 20,580
APC – 10,990
PDP – 8,618
LP – 418
Total valid votes – 20,198
Rejected votes – 361
Total votes cast – 20,559
Esan North-East LG
Registered voters – 106,280
Accredited voters – 24,430
APC – 10,648
PDP – 12,522
LP – 194
Total valid votes – 23,637
Rejected votes – 674
Total votes cast – 24,311
Ovia South-West LG
Registered voters – 112,091
Accredited voters- 23,196
APC – 10,150
PDP – 10,260
LP – 849
Valid votes – 21,710
Rejected votes – 1,086
Total Vote cast – 22,796
Orhionmwon LG
Registered voters – 139,260
Accredited voters – 33,196
APC – 16,059
PDP – 14,614
LP – 556
Total valid votes – 31,559
Rejected votes – 1,091
Total vote cast – 32,650
Owan East LG
Registered voters – 106,252
Accredited voters – 34,618
APC – 19,380
PDP – 14,189
LP – 446
Total valid votes – 34,157
Rejected votes – 430
Total votes cast – 34,577
Etsako East LG
Registered voters – 102,754
Accredited voters – 35,084
APC – 20,167
PDP – 9,683
LP – 604
Total valid votes – 30,926
Rejected votes – 435
Total votes cast – 31,361
Etsako Central LG
Registered voters – 59,430
Accredited voters – 21,465
APC – 11,906
PDP – 8,455
LP – 381
Total valid votes – 20,851
Rejected votes – 294
Total votes cast – 21,145
Etsako West LG
Registered voters – 186,449
Accredited voters – 54,304
APC – 32,107
PDP – 17,483
LP – 2,116
Total valid votes – 52,226
Rejected votes – 1,188
Total votes cast – 53,414
Oredo LGA
Registered voters – 356,242
Accredited voters – 64,802
APC – 30,780
PDP – 24,938
LP – 5,389
Total valid votes: 62,703
Rejected votes: 1,339
Total votes cast: 64,042
Ikpoba-Okha LGA
Registered Voters – 392,782
Accredited Voters – 61437
PDP – 26,382
APC – 16,338
LP – 4026
Total valid votes – 48, 784
Rejected Votes – 1455
Total Votes cast – 50,239
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