The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, as the winner of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Edo State after winning 11 out of the 18 LGAs of the state.
According to reports gathered by FACTUAL NAIJA NEWS, voters across 4,519 polling units in the 18 local government areas of Edo State turned out en masse on Saturday to elect a new governor to succeed Godwin Obaseki.
Announcing the result on Sunday, the Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, revealed that Okpebholo won the election after securing the highest number of votes.
He declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election with 291,667 votes, while Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with a total of 247,274 votes. Meanwhile, Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) polled 22,763 votes to come third in the election.
He said, “I, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, I certify that I’m the Returning officer for the Edo state governorship election held on September 21, 2024… That Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.”
The election, one of the off-cycle polls in 2024, featured 17 candidates, consisting of 16 males and one female.
Meanwhile, before the election result was announced, PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo stated that the election could be the worst in Nigeria’s history, adding that more than 20 polling units across the state were affected by various discrepancies.
Similarly, the governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, who was escorted out of the INEC premises by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Frank Mba, in the early hours of Sunday, stated that his visit to the collation centre was to obtain first-hand information about the collation process after unsuccessful attempts to reach the state’s REC officer regarding reports that PDP agents were not allowed into the collation process.
Here is the breakdown of how voters cast their votes across the 18 local governments in the state.
IGUEBEN LGA
REG. VOTERS: 54549
ACCREDITED: 15274
PDP: 8,470
APC: 5,907
LP: 494
VALID: 14,989
REJECTED: 278
TOTAL VOTE CAST: 15,267
ESAN WEST LGA
REG:112067
ACCREDITED: 25,702
APC: 12,952
PDP: 11,004
LP: 342
VALID: 24691
REJECTED: 693
TOTAL CAST: 25384
OWAN WEST LGA
REGISTERED 67076
ACCREDITED 24311
APC: 12277
PDP:11284
LP: 201
VALID:23904
REJECTED: 391
TOTAL: 24,295
UHUMWONDE LGA
REGISTERED:92,169
ACCREDITED:20,044
APC: 8,776
PDP:9,339
LP:769
VALID:19,223
REJECTED:553
TOTAL:19,776
OVIA NORTH-EAST LGA
REGISTERED: 177,106
ACCREDITED: 32,441
APC: 13,225
PDP: 15,311
LP: 1,675
VALID: 30,783
REJECTED: 1,312
TOTAL: 32,095
ESAN SOUTH-EAST LGA
REGISTERED: 90,240
ACCREDITED: 23,390
APC: 8,398
PDP: 14,199
LP: 98
VALID: 22,780
REJECTED: 356
TOTAL: 23,136
EGOR LGA
REGISTERED: 242,266
ACCREDITED: 35,463
APC: 16,760
PDP: 14,658
LP: 1,966
VALID: 34,022
REJECTED: 1,018
TOTAL: 35,040
AKOKO EDO LGA
REGISTERED: 144,379
ACCREDITED: 54,395
APC: 34,837
PDP: 15,865
LP: 2,239
VALID: 53,547
REJECTED: 331
TOTAL: 53,878
ESAN CENTRAL LGA
REGISTERED:68,338
ACCREDITED:20,580
APC: 10,990
PDP:8,618
LP: 418
VALID: 20,198
REJECTED: 361
TOTAL: 20,559
ESAN NORTH-EAST LGA
REGISTERED:106,280
ACCREDITED:24,430
APC:10,648
PDP:12,522
LP:194
VALID:23,637
REJECTED:674
TOTAL: 24,311
OVIA SOUTH-WEST LGA
REGISTERED:112,091
ACCREDITED: 23,196
APC: 10,150
PDP: 10,260
LP: 849
VALID: 21,710
REJECTED: 1,086
TOTAL: 22,796
ORHIOMWON LGA
REGISTERED: 139,260
ACCREDITED: 33,196
APC: 16,059
PDP: 14,614
LP: 556
VALID: 31,559
REJECTED: 1,091
TOTAL: 32,650
OWAN EAST LGA
REGISTERED:106,252
ACCREDITED:34,618
APC:19,380
PDP:14,189
LP:446
VALID:34,157
REJECTED:420
TOTAL: 34,577
ETSAKO EAST LGA
REGISTERED:102,754
ACCREDITED:35,084
APC: 20,167
PDP:9,683
LP:604
VALID:30,926
REJECTED:435
TOTAL: 31,361
ETSAKO CENTRAL LGA
REGISTERED:59,430
ACCREDITED:21,465
APC:11,906
PDP:8,455
LP:381
VALID:20,851
REJECTED:294
TOTAL: 21,145
ETSAKO WEST LGA
REGISTERED:186,449
ACCREDITED:54,304
APC: 32,107
PDP:17,483
LP:2,116
VALID:52,226
REJECTED:1,188
TOTAL: 53,414
OREDO LGA
REGISTERED: 35,6442
ACCREDITED: 64,812
APC: 30,780
PDP: 24,938
LP: 5,389
VALID: 62,703
REJECTED: 1,339
TOTAL: 64,042
IKPOBA-OKHA LGA
REGISTERED:
ACCREDITED:
APC: 16,338
PDP:26,382
LP: 4,026
VALID:48784
REJECTED:1055