It is Okpebholo!

Like a painful delivery that comes after a protracted labour, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the controversial midwife, birthed Sen. Monday Okpebholo, late on Saturday as winner of the Edo State Governorship election. A serving senator of the Federal Republic and candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Okpebholo scored 291,667 to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 247,274 votes and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) who polled a total of 22,763 votes. This announcement was made late on Sunday by the Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State following the collation of results in Benin City, Edo State. Nigerian Anchor reports that the Edo State Governorship election was held on Saturday, September 21, 2024 in 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs), and the APC candidate won in 11 LGAs, followed by the PDP candidate who won in 7LGAs. The outcome of the election is clustered below as follows: 1. IGUEBEN LGA Total Registered Voters 54,549 Total Accredited Voters 15,274 APC 5907 LP 494 PDP 8470 Total Valid Votes 14,989 Total Rejected Votes 278 Total Votes Cast 15,267 2. ESAN WEST LGA Total Registered Voters 113,067 Total Accredited Voters 25,702 APC 12,952 LP 342 PDP 11,004 Total Valid Votes 24,691 Total Rejected Votes 693 Total Votes Cast 25,384 3. OWAN WEST Total Registered Voters 67,076 Total Accredited Voters 24,311 APC 12,277 LP 201 PDP 11,284 Total Valid Votes 23,904 Total Rejected Votes 391 Total Votes Cast 24,295 4. UHUNMWONDE Total Registered Voters 92,169 Total Accredited Voters 20,044 APC 8776 LP 769 PDP 9339 Total Valid Votes 19223 Total Rejected Votes 553 Total Votes Cast 19776 5. OVIA NORTH-EAST Total Registered Voters 177,106 Total Accredited Voters 32,441 APC 13,225 LP 1,675 PDP 15,311 Total Valid Votes 30783 Total Rejected Votes 1312 Total Votes Cast 32095 6. ESAN SOUTH-EAST LGA Total Registered Voters 90,240 Total Accredited Voters 23,390 APC 8,398 LP 98 PDP 14,199 Total Valid Votes 22780 Total Rejected Votes 356 Total Votes Cast 23136 7. EGOR LGA Total Registered Voters 242,266 Total Accredited Voters 35,463 APC 16,760 LP 1,966 PDP 14,658 Total Valid Votes 34022 Total Rejected Votes 1018 Total Votes Cast 35040 8. AKOKO EDO LGA Total Registered Voters 144,379 Total Accredited Voters 54,395 APC 34847 LP 2239 PDP 15865 Total Valid Votes 53547 Total Rejected Votes 331 Total Votes Cast 53878 9. ESAN CENTRAL LGA Total Registered Voters 68,338 Total Accredited Voters 20,580 APC 10,990 LP 418 PDP 8,618 Total Valid Votes 20198 Total Rejected Votes 361 Total Votes Cast 20559 10. ESAN NORTH-EAST LGA Total Registered Voters 106,280 Total Accredited Voters 24,430 APC 10,648 LP 194 PDP 12,522 Total Valid Votes 23,637 Total Rejected Votes 674 Total Votes Cast 24,311 11. OVIA SOUTH-WEST LGA Total Registered Voters 112,091 Total Accredited Voters 23,196 APC 10,150 LP 849 PDP 10,260 Total Valid Votes 21710 Total Rejected Votes 1086 Total Votes Cast 22796 12. ORHIONMWON LGA Total Registered Voters 139,260 Total Accredited Voters 33,196 APC 16,059 LP 556 PDP 14,614 Total Valid Votes 31,559 Total Rejected Votes 1091 Total Votes Cast 32,650 13. OWAN EAST LGA Total Registered Voters 108,252 Total Accredited Voters 34,618 APC 19,380 LP 446 PDP 14,189 Total Valid Votes 34,157 Total Rejected Votes 420 Total Votes Cast 34,577 14. ETSAKO EAST LGA Total Registered Voters 102,754 Total Accredited Voters 35,084 APC 20,167 LP 604 PDP 9,683 Total Valid Votes 30926 Total Rejected Votes 435 Total Votes Cast 31361 READ ALSO: http://You Can’t set Bauchi on fire I Have enough water- Gov Bala Muhammad  mocks Wike 15. ETSAKO CENTRAL LGA Total Registered Voters 59,430 Total Accredited Voters 21,465 APC 11,906 LP 381 PDP 8,455 Total Valid Votes 20,851 Total Rejected Votes 294 Total Votes Cast 21,145 16. ETSAKO WEST LGA Total Registered Voters 186,449 Total Accredited Voters 54,304 APC 32,107 LP 2116 PDP 17,483 Total Valid Votes 52,226 Total Rejected Votes 1,188 Total Votes Cast 53,414 17. OREDO LGA Total Registered Voters 356,242 Total Accredited Voters 64,802 APC 30,780 LP 5389 PDP 24,938 Total Valid Votes 62703 Total Rejected Votes 1339 Total Votes Cast 64042 READ ALSO: money-laundering-efcc-to-investigate-bank-executives 18. IKPOBA-OKHA LGA Total Registered Voters 392,782 Total Accredited Voters 61,437 APC 16338 LP 4026 PDP 26382 Total Valid Votes 48784 Total Rejected Votes 1455 Total Votes Cast 50239

#EdoDecides: Obaseki wins polling unit for PDP as Akpata loses polling unit to Ighodalo

Alot of upsets have emerged from the Edo Guber elections with results showing that the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, has won his polling unit in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The result from the polling unit, PU19, Ward 04, Oredo LGA, shows that PDP scored 127 votes, APC got 35, while Labour Party got 11 votes. In a related development, the Labour Party candidate in the election, Olumide Akpata, lost his polling unit to the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo. At Polling Unit 11, Ward 06 in Oredo Local Government Area, Ighodalo secured 41 votes, while Akpata followed with 32 votes. Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came in third with 19 votes.

Edo 2024 Guber Update: Voting Begins Amid Tight Security

The 2024 governorship election in Edo State has officially commenced, marked by a significant security presence and varying reports regarding the arrival of INEC officials and voter turnout across different polling units.   INEC Officials Arrive Late at Some Polling Units At 7:43 a.m., INEC officials arrived at Unit 18, Oghede Ward 10, located at Oghede Secondary School on Ekenhuan Road in Egor Local Government Area. Despite the officials’ timely arrival, only a small number of voters were present at the polling unit.   In stark contrast, by 8:39 a.m., Units 7 to 10 in Ward 1 at Ezoti Primary School, Oredo Local Government Area, reported a large turnout of voters. However, INEC officials had not yet arrived. Security operatives were on-site to maintain order and ensure the safety of the gathering electorate.   Smooth Voting Process Amid Low Turnout By 8:51 a.m., voting commenced at Units 19 to 28, Ward 4, Emokpae Primary School in Oredo LGA, where the electoral process was proceeding smoothly. However, at Unit 41, Ward 4, located along Idahosa Lane on Mission Road, INEC officials were present but reported no voters at the polling unit. Staff expressed concerns regarding the absence of security personnel at this location.   Reports from Unit 36, Ward 4 at Evbiemwen indicated that by 9:11 a.m., both INEC officials and security operatives were present, yet voters had not yet arrived. A similar situation was observed at Unit 32, Ward 4, on Ero Street, Wire Road in Oredo LGA, where voting was ongoing under the watchful eye of security personnel, although turnout remained modest.   Continued Presence of Security Operatives By 9:30 a.m., INEC officials finally arrived at Unit 31, Ward 4, Azama Street on Wire Road in Oredo LGA. While security operatives maintained law and order throughout the polling units visited, voter turnout across these locations remained low.   Across all polling units monitored, there was a heavy presence of security operatives both within and around the voting areas, ensuring that the election process proceeded in an orderly and peaceful manner as citizens exercised their democratic rights.   There have also been few incidents of alleged vote buying by some party agents.   As the day progresses, further updates on voter turnout and election proceedings are anticipated.   Security Threats Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Asue Ighodalo has raised an alarm over security threats during the ongoing gubernatorial elections in Edo State. He alleged that the police had arrested a party member in Ward 8 Unit 3. “In Uromi unit 3, one of our supporters was arrested there about an hour ago by men in mufti carrying guns. Nobody should carry guns into a polling unit. That is against the law. But you just see people behaving indiscriminately, oppressing and trying to intimidate our folks,” he said.

Sultan, Kukah seek community involvement in tackling security challenges

For those attempting to make a mountain out of mole hill, Mathew Kukah, the Bishop of Sokoto has reminded them that, like the PDP candidate in Edo Gov elections, President Tinubu did not sign a peace accord as a presidential candidate in 2023. Kukah, one of the conveners of the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, made this known on Sunday in Benin City during the Edo Election Security Townhall. According to the clergyman, the committee can’t force any presidential candidate to sign the peace pact, which has become an electoral ritual in the last decade. Kukah asserted that the failure of political parties and their candidates to sign the peace accord sends a wrong signal to Nigerians, which the opposition can easily exploit. He said, “The National Peace Committee, what we do is not in the Electoral Act, it’s not law; it’s moral. You can’t compel people to fall in love or love their neighbour. “If you go back to the 2019 election, the presidential candidate for the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was not there to sign the Peace Accord. And, of course, the opposition went to town, which is what it ought to be, and the next day, he (Atiku) turned up to sign. “What is also very interesting is that the current president, when he was a presidential candidate, did not sign; it wasn’t our fault that the political opposition didn’t take advantage of it. “It’s a pity, but we are not going to take anybody to court for not signing the Peace Accord. The only thing it does to you as a candidate is that it sends a wrong signal which can be very easily exploited by the opposition.”

Ighodalo Denies Involvement In Shaibu’s Impeachment

The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Asue Ighodalo, has refuted claims that he has a hand in the impeachment of the state’s former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu. Ighodalo, who described the allegation as fake, added that the claims were cooked up to tarnish his reputation. This was contained in a statement released by his media team on Monday. The statement read, “While we would not usually join issues in response to every passing comment, it has become imperative to address the recent spurious allegations by former Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu. “It is necessary for the record, to state in no uncertain terms, that Mr. Asue Ighodalo has had no role or involvement in any form whatsoever in the very public process leading to Mr. Shuaibu’s impeachment and subsequent removal from office by the Edo State House of Assembly. “These claims are completely without merit, and Mr. Ighodalo categorically denies any such involvement. These allegations are a clear attempt to unjustly tarnish his reputation and divert attention from the actual issues at hand.” He, however, called on the public to disregard the claim, saying, “We urge the public and the media to regard these false statements with well-deserved scepticism.”