The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, as the winner of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Edo State, after securing victory in 11 out of the state’s 18 local government areas.
Voters from 4,519 polling units across all 18 local government areas turned out in large numbers to elect a successor for the outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki, on Saturday.
Announcing the results on Sunday, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, and the Returning Officer for the election, confirmed that Okpebholo won with the highest number of votes cast.
Prof. Kuta officially declared Monday Okpebholo as the winner, stating that he amassed a total of 291,667 votes. His closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), garnered 247,274 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) secured 22,763 votes to place third.
“I, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024. I hereby declare Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, as the winner and duly elected,” he announced.
The election, one of the off-cycle polls for 2024, featured 17 candidates, comprising 16 men and one woman.
Before the official results were released, PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo expressed concerns about the electoral process, suggesting it might be “the worst in Nigeria’s history,” and claimed that over 20 polling units across Edo State experienced discrepancies.
In a related development, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who was escorted out of the INEC premises by Deputy Inspector General of Police Frank Mba in the early hours of Sunday, explained that his presence at the collation center was to obtain accurate information about the process after unsuccessful attempts to contact the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) over allegations that PDP agents were denied access to the collation proceedings.
 has declared Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate,){kind=link}