*Nigeria鈥檚 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declares Sen. Monday Okpebholo, Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the winner of the Edo State Governorship Election held at the weekend, but opposition Peoples Democratic Party has alleged electoral fraud

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Sen. Monday Okpebholo, Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Edo State Governorship Election 2024.

绿帽献妻 learnt Farouk Adamu, Returning Officer for the governorship election in the state, announced the results Sunday, September 22, in Benin City, Edo state capital.

Adamu stated: 鈥淚, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, certify that I鈥檓 the returning officer for the Edo state governorship election held on September 21, 2024.

鈥淭hat Monday Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.鈥�

Okpebholo, a serving Senator in the National Assembly (NASS), Abuja, FCT, won the election with 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 247,274 votes.

Olumide Akpata, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), came a distant third with 22, 763 votes.

The APC won the election in 11 of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Edo State, while the PDP secured victories in the remaining seven LGAs.

The off-cycle election in the South-South state was contested by 17 candidates.

Prior to the final declaration, some PDP supporters had staged a protest against the collation of the election results.

The demonstration reportedly took place outside the INEC Headquarters where the results were collated in Benin.

Earlier, during the collation exercise, Tony Iyoha, a PDP agent at the collation centre, had alleged electoral fraud, claiming that some results were 鈥渕anufactured鈥� in favour of the APC, according to reports.

In his official reaction to the development on the outcome of the governorship polls in the state, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has urged the residents of the state to remain calm, and refrain from resorting to violence over electoral outcome for the ruling PDP in the state.