Mr. Kelly Ogbalo, Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State, has claimed that the party would have won the governorship election if it had been conducted freely and fairly.
Ogbalo made this statement during an interview with journalists in Benin, the state’s capital, on Monday.
He alleged that the election was tainted by irregularities, including open vote-buying, which the security agencies failed to address.
According to Ogbalo: “The Labour Party won the election, but we were not allowed to claim victory.”
“What I mean by that is that the election was marred with serious irregularities. There was open vote buying. The security agencies failed to check this anomaly.
“So, where votes were bought, and with manipulation of results here and there, what do you expect?”
When asked if the Labour Party would challenge the election results in court, Ogbalo stated that the party had not yet convened a state council meeting to decide on the matter.
It should be recalled that on September 22, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election.
Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 247,274 votes.
The Labour Party’s candidate, Mr. Olumide Akpata, finished third with 22,763 votes.
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