Labour Party alleges election fraud in Edo State, claims victory denied. The Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State, Mr. Kelly Ogbaloi, has claimed that his party would have emerged victorious in the recently concluded gubernatorial election if it had been conducted fairly. Speaking to journalists in Benin, the state capital, on Monday, Ogbaloi alleged that the election was tainted by widespread irregularities, including open vote-buying, which security agencies failed to address.
“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,” Ogbaloi stated.
He accused electoral officials of manipulating results, further undermining the integrity of the election. “So, where votes were bought, and with manipulation of results here and there, what do you expect?” he questioned.
When asked whether the party would contest the results in court, Ogbaloi indicated that no decision had been made yet, as the party had not convened a state council meeting to deliberate on the next steps.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election on September 22. Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who received 247,274 votes. The Labour Party’s candidate, Mr. Olumide Akpata, finished third with 22,763 votes.
