At the end of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner. The APC candidate polled 291,667 to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who scored 247, 274 votes.
 
The result of the election indicated that the decision of the APC leaders to make the election a referendum on the past eight years of Governor Godwin Obaseki in the state dwarfed the campaign strategy of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), which was built on the economic hardship in the country under the leadership of the current federal administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. When the votes were collated, the massive turnout of voters in Edo North Senatorial District revealed that the electorate there decided to take their pound of flesh from PDP for the low level of development in their district.
 
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who hails from Iyamho in Etsako West Local Council of the district, obviously led the APC to victory as the party garnered a whopping 32,107 votes while the LP got 2,116 and the PDP polled 17,483. The APC swept all six local councils in the district, scoring 19,380 votes in Owan East; 20,167 in Etsako East and 11, 906 in Etsako Central.
 
Other local councils in Edo North, where the APC also held sway were Akoko-Edo where the party polled the largest votes of 34,847 to defeat the PDP which scored 15,865 despite the fact that the incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, Marvellous Godwins Omobayo, hails from the area.
 
Another PDP stronghold, Owan West local council, which is home to the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), Blessing Agbebaku, was won by the APC, which polled 12,277 votes while the PDP garnered 11,284.
 
The results showed that the APC succeeded in mobilising the people by exposing the lack of infrastructure in Edo North, exemplified by bad roads and dilapidated schools.  The people of the area also accuse the current administration in the state of marginalisation.
 
At the peak of the campaign, Oshiomhole had unsuccessfully tried to de-market Ighodalo with the alleged involvement in ‘Planwell’, a ponzi scheme that surfaced in Edo State in the early 1990s. Thus, what seemed to have earned the candidate of the APC the support of the Edo electorate also included the myriad of political and social problems the outgoing governor, Obaseki, had to contend with. For instance, he had an axe to grind with some political elite in the state including Oshiomhole, his embattled Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, and Chief Dan Orbih, a former Edo State chairman of the PDP, who was instrumental to his victory at the 2020 governorship poll. It was also reported that he had a spat with the Oba of Benin.  He was also accused of bringing his cronies from Lagos State to run the state as against the local politicians popularly called ‘home boys’.
 
Obaseki’s style of politics, marked by his severance of relationship with Oshiomhole and many others that had aided his political ascendancy, was also a major factor that determined the outcome of the poll.
 
Recounting how he fell apart with Oshiomhole during the campaigns, Obaseki said: “When Chief Anenih died, I was not in PDP, but I declared a state burial for him because of his contributions to our dear state and Nigeria. This was one of the things that created issues between me and Oshiomhole, who never wanted it. He considered it an unforgivable sin that he could not overlook. But I have to do what is good. We are all one. Edo State is one.
 
“And for Edo to be one and united, I have to support an Esan man for governor. And not just an Esan man but a capable, competent, intellectually sound person with a good track record in the person of Asue Ighodalo.”
 
He declared that moving Edo forward required a candidate like Ighodalo, alleging that the opposition APC was not interested in competence or credibility but had rather vowed to take power at any cost from the PDP.  Oshiomhole, however, believed that Obaseki had burned his bridges having reportedly quarreled with people who were instrumental to his past electoral victories.
 
Describing him as a “lonely man” in politics during an interview on a national television channel recently, Oshiomhole said the outgoing governor had been consigned to the dustbin of political history.
 
His words: “God knows that Obaseki mis-governed the state, and he’s proud to say ‘I will crush, I will crush’. Every other minute, he will say ‘I am the Chief Security Officer.’ In the process, he forgot that these powers belong to the people; sovereignty belongs to the people. They delegate you; they entrust you, believing that you will do good to them.
 
“Instead, he used the power to threaten; he made promises he never kept, so there was nothing. And even the royal father, he was fighting him. He fought everybody, whether you looked for his trouble, didn’t look for his trouble. For Obaseki, crushing people was for him a way of life. So, we are very happy now that we have consigned him to the dustbin of political history.
 
“That we defeated Obaseki and Asue Ighodalo should be quite predictable. There was nothing either in Obaseki’s performance or Asue’s credentials that would have made them win the election.”
 
bolster Okpebholo’s chances in the election, his campaign council dragged Vice President Kashim Shettima to Edo to canvas votes for him. Shettima, who described Okpebholo as the most qualified to occupy the governorship position in Edo State, stated that the state needed a strategic thinker, a builder, a man of the people, a man who can rally the great people of the state, which Okpebholo exemplifies.
 
On the side of Ighodalo and the PDP were former vice president Abubakar Atiku, vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Iliya Damagum and governors elected on the platform of the party.
 
Nevertheless, the odds were stacked against Ighodalo. Some observers believe that President Tinubu, as the Commander-in-Chief, also wanted to pay Obaseki and PDP back in their own coins. Recall that in the build-up to the 2020 governorship election, the campaign slogan of PDP was ‘Edo no be Lagos’, which they successfully used to counter Tinubu’s support for the then candidate of the APC, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
 
This year, President Tinubu had during the flag off of the APC governorship campaign assured members of the party that they would have Edo back.Thus, the election was literally a do or die affair for the APC just as it was for the PDP. Expectedly, the stand of the two big parties paved the way for all manner of irregularities including vote buying and voter intimidation.
 
After the winner of the poll was announced, a distraught Labour Party (LP) candidate, Olumide Akpata, expressed dismay with the outcome, describing the election as a charade.
 
“We anticipated that powerful forces would attempt to skew the outcome in their favour, regardless of the will of the people.  Regrettably, these fears have materialised. Yet, we must also confront an uncomfortable truth.  The outcome was enabled not just by those who sought to manipulate the process but by the actions and inaction of a significant portion of our electorate,” Akpata said.
 
According to the candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) in the election, Patience Ndidi Key, who emerged fourth, the outcome of the election didn’t reflect the will of the people.
 
“In truth, the people of Edo State had no interest in voting for APC, PDP or LP. These parties have over the years, systematically impoverished our state, stripped us of dignity and left our infrastructure, economy and human capital in shambles.

 “The APC, known for its notorious electoral manipulations, once again showed its expertise in rigging elections while the PDP, whose candidate is the current chairman of Edo State Economic Council, had failed woefully to add any real value to the state’s economy over the past years,” Key said.
 
Key accused the major political parties of playing money politics, saying: “What we witnessed was not a democratic election; it was a rig, rigger, ‘riggest’ show of corruption and electoral malpractice that does not represent the will of the people of Edo State.”
 
While Okpebholo is savouring his victory at the poll and has been assured of President Tinubu’s support to deliver good governance in Edo, Ighodalo is preparing for a legal battle with him at the tribunal and has called on the judiciary to remain steadfast and impartial as it prepares to address what he described as the most brazen electoral heist in Nigeria’s democratic history since 1999.
 
He said: “The unprecedented electoral heist we witnessed is a stark reminder of the struggles our forefathers faced for the rights and freedoms we hold dear today.
 
“To my supporters in Edo State and across the nation, I urge you to stay the course. Our journey toward a flourishing Edo and a better Nigeria is far from over. Every challenge we encounter is merely a stepping stone toward the realisation of our dreams for a fair, just, and equitable society.
 
“Let us not be deterred by the shadows cast upon our collective aspirations. Instead, let us unite under the banner of integrity, resilience, and the unwavering belief that the will of the people must prevail.
 
“I call on the judiciary to stand firm in this critical moment. The integrity of the ballot is not just a matter of law; it is the foundation of our democracy. We cannot allow the brazen daylight robbery of the people’s choice and votes to go unchallenged. Justice must not only be done, but it must also be seen to be done. Those responsible for this electoral travesty must be held accountable, and the scales of justice must balance in favour of the truth.”