The Labour Party’s candidate in the recent Edo State Governorship election, Olumide Akpata, has attributed the party’s third-place result to a deeply flawed electoral process.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the Edo State Governorship election.
Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating the PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and the Labour Party candidate, who finished third with 22,763 votes.
In the election, the APC won in 10 of the state’s 18 Local Government Areas, while the PDP emerged victorious in the remaining 8.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s flagship programme, Politics Today, Akpata expressed his concerns about the election results.
He stated, “The outcome, as you can see, is that the Labour Party came a very distant third. However, this was due to a process that was thoroughly flawed”.
Akpata highlighted the high level of voter apathy, chaos at the local government collation centres and mayhem at the state collation centre.
He emphasized that the Labour Party did not have the resources to buy votes, which were clearly on offer.
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Akpata added, “For me, that’s how I would describe the process: vote-buying, voter apathy, and then mayhem and chaos at the collation centres. This is how we ended up with the outcome you mentioned”.
He also said, “I have enough humility to accept defeat if indeed I lost, but only if it was on a level playing field”. The Labour Party’s third-place finish has sparked controversy, with Akpata’s statements shedding light on the electoral process’s flaws.
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