Politics
Sen Okpebholo Secures APC Ticket In Edo Guber Race
Senator Monday Okpebholo has clinched the coveted candidacy for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the upcoming Edo State gubernatorial election, billed for September 21st.
The politician secured an impressive 12,433 votes during the primary election, conducted across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state.
Biztellers reports taht Sen Okpebholo outpaced his closest rival, Dennis Idahosa, who garnered 6,541 votes.
This triumph follows Sen Okpebholo’s prior success in the parallel primary last Saturday, where Returning Officer Stanley Ugboaja officially declared him the winner with a commanding 12,145 votes.
He said, “Having scored the highest number of votes, I hereby declare Senator Okpebholo the winner of the election.”
The dynamics shifted in Edo State as Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, also the APC primary election committee chairman, initially announced Dennis Idahosa as the primary winner at the Protea Hotel.
However, Stanley Ugboaja insisted that he was the rightful authority to declare the primary election results, injecting a surprising twist into the unfolding events of the APC’s candidate selection process in Edo State.
“I am the right person to declare the results of this primary election but unfortunately I was not allowed to finish the announcement. We will continue the announcement here (Ize-Iyamu residence),” he said.
Adding to the complexity, Edo APC Publicity Secretary, Peter Uwadiae deems Governor Uzodimma’s announcement as illegal.
The APC National Working Committee (NWC), in a decisive move last Tuesday, nullified the disputed primary that yielded three winners.
A fresh primary, conducted yesterday, has now officially declared Sen Okpebholo as the party’s gubernatorial candidate, bringing a resolution to the contentious situation.
Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, has won the Edo State governorship election held on Saturday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the results from all 18 local government areas on Sunday, showing that Okpebholo received 291,667 votes.
Read Also: #EdoDecides2024: Tensions Escalate In Edo As PDP Supporters Protest Election Results
His closest competitor, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), secured 247,655 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came in third with 22,763 votes.
With this lead, Okpebholo is set to be officially declared the election’s winner.
However, the PDP has raised concerns. The party’s Edo State Chairman, Dr. Anthony Aziegbemi, called on INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to review the election results before making the final declaration.
Aziegbemi claimed that the figures entered by electoral officers differed from the results uploaded to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV) at the polling units.
He further alleged that the APC’s results were inflated by deducting votes from the PDP.
More to follow……….
Tension is building in Edo State as supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) protested outside the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin City, rejecting the partial results of the governorship election released so far.
INEC has announced results from 16 of the state’s 18 local government areas.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) leads with victories in 10 local governments, while the PDP has won in six.
The protesters, chanting and waving leaves, accused INEC of tampering with the results, claiming discrepancies between the official figures and those from polling units.
One protester, identified as Frank, alleged that the results had been manipulated on INEC’s online portal. He called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate the matter.
He said, ” What we are saying is that we will not allow anyone to tamper with the wish of the Edo people. People have voted for our candidate (Ighodalo), and some people want to use the power from above to turn the results upside down. We won’t accept it. No, we won’t.
“We have the authentic results with us, and the ones they announced are different. That means someone has tampered with the results. We will not take it. We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in this matter. Some people should not burn our state.”
The political fortunes in the Edo State off season 2024 gubernatorial election continue to swing, with the reinstated Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu and former Governor, Adam Oshiomhole, delivering the Estako West Local Government Area (LGA) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
ALSO READ: #EdoDecides: PDP Triumphs In Esan North-East, Ovia South-West LGA
Results in Etsako West LG which is home to both Shaibu and Oshiomhole saw APC’s governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo, polling 32,107 to defeat his Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) counterpart, Asue Ighodalo, who got 17,483.
Recall that Shaibu rejoined the APC in the buildup to the election after a long battle between him and his boss, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who anointed Ighodalo ahead of him.
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