The President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated the All Progressive Congress’ candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, for his victory at the Saturday’s Edo State governorship election.
Senator Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) having secured 291,667 votes to defeat PDP’s Asue Ighodalo who got 247,274 votes and LP’s Olumide Akpata who scored 22,763 votes.
The governorship election was held in 4,519 polling units across the 18 local government areas of Edo State with 17 parties contesting for the seat.
In a statement on Sunday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu commended the APC national leaders, Edo State leaders, and party governors for working hard to achieve victory.
He said that the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic re-engineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians.
The president urged Senator Okpebholo not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service.
He encouraged the Edo State Governor-elect to demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development.
Tinubu also praised other candidates who participated in the election for their contributions to advancing Nigeria’s democracy, saying peaceful political contests, such as the one on Saturday, portray Nigeria as a stable democracy.
The President urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels.
In addition, Tinubu hailed the people of Edo State for their orderly and peaceful conduct during the election, underscoring the maturing of Nigeria’s democracy after 25 years.
In a statement however, the Adamawa state governor, Adamu Finitiri, has condemned the election. He said he wept for Nigeria’s democracy, describing the exercise as shameful.
“I weep for Nigeria’s democracy after witnessing the shameful Edo Gubernatorial poll. The APC’s desperate attempts to discredit me by falsely claiming I announced results won’t distract from the real issue. I merely shared results from INEC’s Irev portal, as collated by INEC from the various Local Government Areas,” Fintiri said.
“What’s truly shameful is APC’s national chairman flying into Edo with a private jet on election day, defying movement restrictions, while their Governors used armoured escorts to intimidate voters.
“This blatant disregard for democratic norms is the real brigandage. Nigerians are outraged, slamming INEC for compromising and favoring APC. The reported vote-buying, disruption of collation processes, and suspicious results with more votes than accredited voters undermine trust in our democracy. Democracy indeed is under attack.
“We must condemn this rape of democracy and demand accountability. The world is watching, and Nigeria deserves better.”
