Edo Governor, Deputy Seats Declared Vacant At Senate, House Of Reps 

Edo State has seen significant political changes, with both the Senate and House of Representatives declaring seats vacant due to recent elections.  The Senate declared the seat for Edo Central Senatorial District vacant after Monday Okpebholo, who previously held the position, was inaugurated as governor of the state in December.  The decision followed a letter from Minority Leader Abba Moro, which cited the Nigerian Constitution’s provisions on vacancies for elected officials appointed to higher offices.  The Senate has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize a by-election to fill the position. In a related development, the House of Representatives also declared the seat of Dennis Idahosa vacant.  Idahosa, who represented Ovia North East/Ovia South West Federal Constituency, was sworn in as the Deputy Governor of Edo State on November 12.  Following the declaration, INEC is expected to set a date for a by-election to replace him.

Edo Governor Takes Strong Stance Against Cultism

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has directed the heads of security agencies to make the state hostile for criminal groups, particularly those involved in cultism.  This directive followed an inaugural security meeting at the Government House in Benin City, where Governor Okpebholo emphasized his administration’s commitment to prioritizing security. During the meeting, the Governor expressed his dissatisfaction with the increasing cases of cult-related violence in the state, especially in Benin City.  He made it clear that his government would not tolerate such activities and that urgent action would be taken to eradicate these groups.  Okpebholo called for cooperation among security agencies to eliminate these criminals and ensure a safer environment for residents. He reiterated that security was a central focus of his campaign and remains at the top of his agenda.  In his remarks, he stressed that no effort would be spared to make Edo State secure for its law-abiding citizens, while ensuring that criminals have no safe haven. The Commissioner of Police, Umoru Peter Ozigi, joined in the briefing, stating that security forces are actively working together to address ongoing concerns.  He assured the public that the Governor has committed to providing all necessary support to achieve peace and stability in the state.

Okpebholo Names Fred Itua as Chief Press Secretary

Fred Itua has been appointed Chief Press Secretary by Edo State Governor-elect, Senator Monday Okpebholo.  This marks Okpebholo’s first key appointment as he prepares to assume office from Governor Godwin Obaseki on Tuesday.   The announcement, made in Abuja, highlights Itua’s extensive media background.  He previously held roles at Leadership and The Sun newspapers and has covered a wide range of topics, including the National Assembly, health, and environmental issues.   Itua’s academic journey spans a Bachelor’s degree in English from Ambrose Alli University, a Master’s in Media Arts from the University of Abuja, and ongoing PhD research in Development Communication at Veritas University.   As head of the Governor-elect’s media team, Itua is expected to bring his wealth of experience to bear in shaping the administration’s public communications strategy.

Okpeboholo, APC Govs create scene, kneeling to greet Tinubu at the Villa

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu received  the Edo state governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo, at the State House, Abuja. Okpebholo is accompanied by the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and some of the governors elected on the platform of the party. When President Tinubu reached for a handshake with Okpebholo, the Edo Governor-elect fell to his knees to receive the President’s stretched arm. Among the governors spotted in the entourage are the chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Usman Ododo (Kogi), and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun). Also on the entourage is the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole, and deputy governor, Philip Shaibu. It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Okpebholo the APC winner of last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State.

Tinubu Reacts As INEC Declares Winner Of Edo State Governorship Election

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election, on his victory at the polls. Senator Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, having defeated other contenders for the position. The off-cycle election had 17 candidates contest for the exalted seat at the Dennis Osadebay House in Benin City, The governorship election was held in 4,519 polling units across the 18 local government areas of Edo State. In a statement on Sunday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu commended the APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory. He stated that the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic reengineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians. The president urged Senator Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service. He encouraged the Edo State Governor-elect to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development. Tinubu also praised other candidates who participated in the election for their contributions to advancing Nigeria’s democracy, saying peaceful political contests, such as the one on Saturday, portray Nigeria as a stable democracy. The President urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels. In addition, Tinubu hailed the people of Edo State for their orderly and peaceful conduct during the election, underscoring the maturing of Nigeria’s democracy after 25 years. “I commend the INEC and our security agencies for working round the clock to conduct a successful, peaceful and largely hitch-free exercise. “INEC has once again demonstrated that it is committed to organising a free and fair election in our country”, Tinubu said

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.

Edodecides: PDP won’t get a single vote in my polling unit

…APC candidate boasts The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the ongoing Edo State governorship election, Monday Okpebholo, has boasted that none of his opponents, including the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Asue Ighodalo, will get a single vote at Unit 03, Ward 1, Uwessan, Esan Central LGA in Edo. Mr Okpebholo stated this after casting his ballot on Saturday. He said, “PDP or whatever will not get one vote here because this is my home and my people love me.” He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying, “What I’m seeing here is like a testimony that INEC is getting it right.” When asked to comment on his impression on security deployment for the election, the APC candidate said, “I know that everything they are saying about security – this, that – is ‘hyping’. I mean, nothing is happening. You can see! Nobody is fighting. No knockout, no stick of matches. So is just for people to scare people away from voting”. “You know Obaseki wanted to cause fire in Edo State, but by the grace of God, everything is moving perfect.”