The Labour Party (LP) Chairman in Edo State, Kelly Ogbalo, has asserted that the party would have emerged victorious in the recently concluded Edo governorship election had it been conducted fairly.
In an interview with newsmen on Monday, Ogbalo accused the electoral process of being compromised by irregularities, particularly pointing to widespread vote-buying that security agencies failed to address.
“Labour Party won the election but was not allowed to take possession,” Ogbalo alleged.
“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?” he questioned.
When asked whether the Labour Party planned to challenge the election results in court, Ogbalo stated that the party had not yet convened a state council meeting to determine its course of action.
Naija News reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election, held on September 22.
Okpebholo garnered 291,667 votes, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,274 votes.
The Labour Party’s candidate, Olumide Akpata, finished third with 22,763 votes.