The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Edo State governorship election, Monday Okpebholo, polled the highest number of votes in the election and is expected to be declared the winner.
Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has yet to officially declare a winner, Okpebholo, according to results compiled by the electoral body in Edo State, polled 291,667 votes.
His main contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), came second with 247,274 votes, leaving Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) with 22,763.
The APC candidate also won in 11 of the 18 local governments in the state, while the PDP candidate won in the remaining seven.
To emerge as the winner, a candidate must have the highest vote share and at least 25 percent of the votes in at least two-thirds (12) of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. Okpebholo has met this criterion, according to a PREMIUM TIMES review of the official results declared by INEC.
INEC is expected to formally declare the winner later tonight.
How did the candidates fare?
There were 17 candidates in the race for the governorship, but it appeared to be a three-way race between candidates from the Labour Party, the PDP and the APC.
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The race ended up being a close contest between the PDP and the APC, both accused by election observers of vote-buying.
Map showing local government areas won by APC and PDP.
Issues in the elections
On Saturday, Yiaga Africa, one of the election monitoring groups, reported that there were cases of vote buying and logistical challenges in the elections.
The organisation noted that agents of the two major political parties, APC and PDP, were seen bribing voters with N10,000 each in some polling stations, especially in Igueben and Ikpoba/Okha local governments.
The Electoral Analysis Centre (EAC) of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa) corroborated this in a statement published on X. It added that fake news also figured prominently in the Edo elections.
While noting that the elections were peaceful, CDD-West Africa explained that “prevailing socio-economic” challenges and the rising cost of gasoline “would certainly make vote-buying an attractive prospect for politicians.”
PDP rejects results
While the PDP rejected the outcome of the election, saying it could be termed as the worst election in Nigeria's history, the APC, through its state chairman, Jarret Tenebe, defended the election as the fairest and most representative in the history of the state.
Some PDP supporters also staged a protest at the INEC headquarters in Edo State.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the outgoing Governor, Mr. Obaseki, visited the INEC office in Benin City, Edo State, in the early hours of Sunday to protest against the results compilation process which he and his party, the PDP, claimed had been jeopardized against them.
Edo State Governorship Election Dashboard
Mr Obaseki held a four-hour meeting with INEC officials and Frank Mba, Deputy Inspector General of Police.
The governor's visit heightened tension, with the APC, through its national secretary, Ajibola Basiru, accusing him of behaving like a thug.
The PDP candidate, Mr. Ighodalo, also expressed concern over what he described as collusion between INEC officials and the police when the collation of results from two local governments (Oredo and Ikpoba/Okha) was moved to the Benin City collation centre.
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He said the action was aimed at subverting the elections and “the will of the Edo people.”
Election observation group Yiaga Africa said on Sunday that moving the collation of results from the two LGAs violates the established procedure for collating results.
Voter apathy
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that over 2.2 million voters were expected to cast their ballots in the election, but the announced results revealed that voter apathy in Nigeria’s elections has continued, with low turnout recorded in all 18 local governments in the state.
Data from the INEC portal show that there are 2,629,025 registered voters in the state, but only 2,249,780 voters obtained their Permanent Voter Credential (CPE) and were therefore eligible to vote. In the end, less than 700,000 voters voted in the elections.
Election observers express concern over INEC transparency
Several election observation groups including Yiaga Africa, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Kimpact Development Initiative, ElectHER and TAF Africa have expressed concerns over INEC's transparency in the Edo elections.
“Reports of disruptions at local and ward government results collection centres, including intimidation of INEC officials and attempts to collect results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, raise significant concerns about the credibility of the results collection process,” the groups said in a joint statement.
They acknowledged “INEC’s recent statement acknowledging reports of mutilation of results and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.”
The groups, citing Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022, urged INEC to “review all declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or were in violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC regulations and guidelines.”
The groups also urged security agencies to stop interfering in the counting process and ensure that accredited party operatives, media and election observers have full access to counting centres.