Edo State Governorship Election: Labour Party Candidate Blames Flawed Electoral Process for Poor Showing
Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party’s candidate in the recent Edo State Governorship election, has attributed his party’s third-place result to a deeply flawed electoral process. Akpata made the statement during an appearance on Channels Television’s flagship programme, Politics Today, on Wednesday.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election with 291,667 votes, defeating the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes. The Labour Party candidate finished third with 22,763 votes.
Akpata expressed his concerns about the election results, citing high voter apathy, estimated to be around 20% of eligible voters, and chaos at the collation centres. He also accused the APC of vote-buying, stating that the party had the resources to do so.
“It’s fine to lose fair and square, but when you realise that the Labour Party, from the very beginning, was out of the race because we apparently came to a gunfight with a penknife. We did not have the resources to buy votes, which were clearly on offer,” Akpata said.
Akpata described the electoral process as flawed, citing vote-buying, voter apathy, and chaos at the collation centres. He emphasized that he has enough humility to accept defeat if indeed he lost, but only if it was on a level playing field.
The APC won in 10 of the state’s 18 Local Government Areas, while the PDP emerged victorious in the remaining 8. Akpata’s comments come as a surprise, given the Labour Party’s third-place finish, but they highlight the concerns surrounding the electoral process in Edo State.
