Over 88% of the polling unit result sheets from Saturday’s Edo State gubernatorial election have been uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
As of 06:40 PM on Saturday, the electoral umpire had published the result sheets of 3995 polling units—out of the 4519 polling units—onto the web.
The people of Edo State in South-South Nigeria cast ballots on Saturday, September 21, 2024, to choose a new governor to replace Godwin Obaseki, whose eight-year double term as governor under the constitution expires on November 12, 2024.
Due to legal disputes and judicial rulings, governorship elections are held off-year in eight states, including Edo. Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun, and Ondo are the other states.
In Edo State, there are 4,519 polling places and 2,629,025 registered voters overall, according to INEC. The Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) of 2,249,780 (85.57%) of this number will be used to select Obaseki’s replacement.
Analysts have characterized the upcoming poll as a three-horse fight between Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), despite the fact that 17 candidates are vying for the position.
Former NBA president Akpata has the unwavering support of Peter Obi, the 2023 Libertarian Party presidential candidate. Obi, riding high on the wave of the “Obidient” movement, raised over six million votes in less than a year.
Former Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Chairman Ighodalo won the support of Obaseki, the current governor, who avoided his deputy and party loyalist, Philip Shaibu.
Adams Oshiomhole, the former governor, and Shaibu have both promised to back Okpebholo.
The APC currently has senators from Edo North (Oshiomhole) and Edo Central (Okpebholo), whereas Neda Imasuen, the senator for the Labour Party, is from Edo South, which is where Akpata is from.
