Adams Oshiomhole, the Edo State Governor, has won a second term in office after winning in all the 18 local government areas of Edo state and with 477, 478 votes. Adams Oshiomhole, who was the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate, defeated his closest rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Major-Gen.Charles Airhiavbere (retd.) who came second with 144,235 votes.
Other candidates and their votes are:
- Chief Solomon Edebiri of the All Nigeria Peoples Party was third with 3,642 votes
- Mr. Roland Izeobuwe of Congress for Progressive Change was fourth with 2,793 votes
- Mr. Frank Ukonga of Social Democratic Movement Party followed with 807 votes.
- Mr. Andrew Igwemoh of Labour Party had 604 votes
- Mr. Paul Orunmwese of the National Conscience Party had 540 votes.
There were 1, 651, 099 registered voters in Edo state but only 647,698 votes were cast with 630,099 valid votes and 17,599 rejected votes.
After the INEC Returning Officer declared Mr. Oshiomhole as the winner, Benin City, the capital of Edo State, thousands of his supporters filled the streets to celebrate. Mr. Oshiomhole joined his supporters on the victory tour, thanked the people for turning out to vote for him and told them that the “landslide victory” is a true reflection of the wish of the people of Edo state.
Speaking to the people, he said "God has blessed our project, it is finished. Now is the time to give thanks to God that today, a Holy Sunday, the people of Edo State have spoken. Across Edo South, across Edo Central, across Edo North our people are united by a common desire to build a new Edo State. to consolidate on our projects and together to take Edo State to the next level.
“I thank you for standing on your feet. On our feet, we shall fight for freedom; we shall never go on our knees. You young ones must remember that this fight was and is for your tomorrow. It’s for your freedom, your right to choose who governs you. We must make a statement that election riggers are out of business. What we owe is to sustain the development programmes.”
Oshiomhole also thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for his determination to enthrone credible democracy in Nigeria. He said, “I want to appreciate Mr. President for his resolve and public pronouncement that he would provide adequate security for the people and the INEC staff before, during and after the election.
“I am glad that Mr President kept to his words of assurance that there would be no thuggery, hooliganism and violence during the Edo governorship election. He is indeed a statesman, a man of honour because there was adequate and effective presence of security agents on ground. I am impressed because the Army actually played a neutral role in the election.’’
Reacting to the ACN candidate winning the state, the Edo state PDP chapter congratulated Mr. Oshiomhole and said, "While we await the reports of our monitors in different locations in the state in order to determine our next course of action, we commend the people of Edo State for their enthusiastic participation in the exercise."
“However, to our disappointment, the results as declared by INEC did not go our way.
“As a party that respects the institutions of democracy, and in demonstration of the spirit of sportsmanship which is the acclaimed principle of the PDP under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, we call on all our supporters to accept this results as declared by INEC.
“We congratulate the winner for this victory."
“This is however, without prejudice to our right to seek redress if we observe from our field reports any foul play. We therefore urge our supporters to remain calm,law abiding and resist any temptation to take the law into their hands.”
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