The Labour Party (LP) in Edo State has alleged that the party’s loss in the recent governorship election was due to widespread irregularities and vote-buying.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner with 291,667 votes, while the LP candidate, Barrister Olumide Akpata, came third with 22,763 votes.
The party’s chairman, Kelly Ogbaloi, Ogbaloi criticised the election process, stating, “We would have won the election, but it was marred by irregularities, including open vote-buying that security agencies failed to address.” He expressed frustration, questioning, “What do you expect in a situation where votes were bought and results were manipulated?”
The party has not yet decided whether to challenge the results in court, but Ogbaloi mentioned that a state council meeting would be convened to deliberate on the next steps.
Corroborating this, the party’s candidate, Olumide Akpata, claimed the election was sold to the highest bidder rather than reflecting the will of the people.
He called for comprehensive electoral reform, emphasising the need to leverage technology to create foolproof systems that make vote-buying not just difficult but impossible.
Akpata also stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of vote-selling by creating economic opportunities, improving education, and building a society where citizens do not feel compelled to exchange their future for immediate gains.
He lamented that the election exposed a political landscape dominated not by ideologies or the will of the people but by those with the deepest pockets and the broadest networks of influence.
Also commenting, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in last year’s elections, condemned the Edo State off-cycle governorship election as an example of ‘state capture’ that could jeopardise Nigeria’s future.
Obi, who played a leading role in the campaign for LP’s candidate Olumide Akpata, expressed his views on Monday via X.
He asserted that the Edo election did not reflect the democratic process Nigerians have chosen for electing their leaders. He labelled it a blatant example of “state capture” and a gross undermining of democratic values, stating, “Any nation whose leadership recruitment process is so fatally flawed is doomed, and we are all witnessing its effects in our country.”
He urged those in authority not to rely on such flawed processes to remain in power.
Obi also highlighted Nigeria’s investment in the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV), emphasising the need for these systems to function properly to safeguard the electoral process from falsification.
“To the agencies and individuals undermining our democracy due to their positions of authority, remember that your time in office is not eternal. The society you are helping to destroy today will eventually seek retribution,” Obi warned.
