Monday Okpebholo, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has emerged as the winner of the Edo State governorship election held on Saturday.
According to the official results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, outperforming his closest contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 247,655 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) placed third with 22,763 votes.
With these results, Okpebholo is poised to be officially declared the governor-elect of Edo State.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to review the results before the final declaration. Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi, the PDP Chairman in Edo, alleged during a press briefing in Benin on Sunday that discrepancies exist between the figures reported by electoral officers and the results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV). He claimed that votes were inflated in favor of the APC, with deductions made from the PDP’s tally.
INEC has yet to respond to these allegations, as the political landscape in Edo State remains tense ahead of the final announcement.
