By Abdulfatah Babatunde
Diverse reactions have trailed the victory of the All Progressive Congress candidate, Monday Okpebholo, in the Edo State off-season governorship election conducted on Saturday.
TheNewsZenith reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) hard, in the late hours of Sunday, Sept. 22, declared Okpebholo as the winner.
INEC declared that Okpebholo, secured 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who got 247,274 votes.
Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came a distant third in the race with 22,763 votes.
Fourteen other candidates, who also contested the seat got far fewer votes.
TheNewsZenith reports that as congratulatory messages pour in for the Okpebholo, criticism from the opposition parties also trailed the election results.
Reacting, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu congratulated Sen. Monday Okpebholo, on his victory at the polls.
The President also commended APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory.
He said the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals and its economic reengineering programme.
Tinubu charged the governor-elect, not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service.
He encourages him to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development.
The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) described attempts being made by some civil society groups to denigrate the outcome of the Edo State Gubernatorial election as a partisan hatchet job not backed by facts.
IMPI Chairman Niyi Akinsiju said in a statement emailed to TheNewsZentih that claims made by the coalition were a carbon copy of the position of tPDP on the election process.
Akinsiji said the group observed the desperate move by the coalition of civil society groups to cast aspersions on the outcome of the gubernatorial election.
According to him, the coalition tagged the collation of election results as “not transparent”.
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He said IMPI rejects the coalition’s claim.
“We are, especially, at odds with the undisguised partisanship expressed in the publicly circulated statement by the coalition of the civil society groups to denigrate the electoral process.
“Indeed, this amplifies the unfounded allegations of electoral process compromise made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Meanwhile, the PDP kicked against the result of the governorship election.
Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State is the party Chairman of the Edo State Governorship Election National Campaign Council. He accused INEC of violating the Electoral Act.
But the defeated PDP candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo said his aspiration was never about power but a genuine desire to serve the Edo people.
Ighodalo thanked the Edo people, who supported him, assuring them of his determination to create prosperity for all in Edo.
In his thank-you message, the PDP candidate said he gave thanks and adoration to Almighty God.
“We are grateful for the gift of life, health and your overwhelming love and support throughout this journey.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who stood by us. Your unwavering dedication has fueled our campaign and kept us moving forward,” Ighodalo said.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, strongly condemned the conduct of the Edo gubernatorial poll.
Obi described it as “a gross undermining of Nigeria’s democratic process”.
Obi expressed dismay over the election in a statement posted on his X (Twitter) handle.
“It failed to reflect the democratic principles Nigerians have chosen for electing political leaders,” TheNewsZenith quotes Obi as posting.
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