Mr. Kelly Ogbalo, the Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State, has alleged that his party would have emerged victorious in the state’s governorship election if it had been conducted freely and fairly......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Benin, Ogbalo expressed his concerns about the election, claiming it was tainted by significant irregularities.
According to him, open vote-buying was rampant, and security agencies failed to take adequate action to prevent it.
He emphasized that these issues compromised the integrity of the election, preventing the Labour Party from securing a win.
Ogbalob alleged that: “Labour Party won the election but was not allowed to take possession.
“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 in such a way where votes were bought and with manipulation of results here and there. What do you expect?
When asked if LP would challenge the result in court, Ogbalo said the party had yet to call a state council meeting to take a position on the matter.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Sept. 22 declared Sen. Monday Okpebholo of the APC winner of the election.
Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 247,274 votes while LP’s candidate, Mr Olumide Akpata, came third with 22,763 votes.