THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has uploaded over 88% of the result sheets from polling units for today’s Edo State Governorship Election on its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
As of 6:40 PM today, results from 3,995 out of 4,519 polling units had been posted on the portal.
Today, voters in Edo State, located in Nigeria’s South-South region, went to the polls to elect a new governor to replace the current governor, Godwin Obaseki, whose second and final term ends on November 12, 2024.
Edo is one of eight states where off-season governorship elections are held due to legal challenges and court rulings. The other states are Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun, and Ondo.
According to INEC, Edo State has 2,629,025 registered voters and 4,519 polling units. Of these, 2,249,780 (85.57%) hold Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and are eligible to decide Obaseki’s successor.
Although 17 candidates are contesting the governorship, analysts view the race as a three-way contest among Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP).
Akpata, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), enjoys strong support from 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, who garnered over six million votes in 2023 as a leader of the ‘Obidient’ movement.
Ighodalo, the former Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), has been endorsed by incumbent governor Obaseki, who declined to support his deputy, Philip Shaibu.
Shaibu and former governor Adams Oshiomhole have both thrown their support behind Okpebholo.
In terms of party strongholds, the APC controls Edo North (represented by Senator Oshiomhole) and Edo Central (represented by Senator Okpebholo), while Labour Party Senator Neda Imasuen represents Edo South, where Akpata hails from.