After months of intense campaigning in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the closely contested governorship election held on Saturday, 21 September 2024, in the South-South state.

Okpebholo, aged 54, secured 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 247,274 votes. Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came a distant third, with 22,763 votes. Fourteen other candidates contested the election but secured fewer votes than the three frontrunners.

“That Monday Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” announced INEC’s Returning Officer, Professor Faruk Kuta, at 9:27 pm on Sunday to jubilant cheers from APC supporters at the collation centre in Benin City, the state capital.

Professor Kuta, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, declared the results after a series of recesses. Okpebholo triumphed in over 10 of the 18 local government areas, leaving the PDP candidate with marginal victories in the remaining councils. The APC also secured two of the three battleground senatorial districts in the state.

As the Senator representing Edo Central, Okpebholo leveraged his influence in his district, joining forces with Adams Oshiomhole, a National Assembly member from Edo North, to defeat Ighodalo, who had been endorsed by the outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki. Okpebholo’s victory was also bolstered by his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, a federal lawmaker, as well as by Obaseki’s estranged deputy, Philip Shaibu.

The declaration brings Okpebholo a step closer to assuming office at the Dennis Osadebe Government House, returning the APC to power in Edo State. The party had lost control of the state in 2020 when Obaseki defected from the APC to the PDP after an intra-party dispute with Oshiomhole. Obaseki secured the PDP ticket and defeated APC’s Osagie Ize-Iyamu to win a second term, which ends on 12 November 2024.

Obaseki campaigned vigorously for Ighodalo, while Oshiomhole played a pivotal role in Okpebholo’s campaign, attending rallies and speaking on behalf of the APC candidate. Despite Okpebholo’s victory, the PDP has protested the results, alleging that they were fabricated and did not reflect the will of the people.

There were protests in parts of the state capital and outside the INEC collation centre, which was heavily guarded. Earlier, Governor Obaseki had stormed the collation centre to protest the exclusion of PDP agents, but he was escorted out by security personnel. At the collation centre, PDP agent Tony Iyoha called for the suspension of the entire election, citing irregularities. The state PDP chairman, Anthony Aziegbemi, also raised concerns over discrepancies between figures on the EC8 form and INEC’s IReV platform.

The PDP Governors’ Forum urged INEC to respect the will of the people of Edo State and ensure that their votes were accurately counted. The Forum, led by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, criticised some of the announced results, claiming they did not match those on IReV.

INEC reported that 2,249,780 registered voters in Edo State were eligible to choose Obaseki’s successor in the off-season election, one of eight such elections in the country due to litigation and court rulings.