The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are currently locked in a close contest in the ongoing governorship election in Edo State.
As of Sunday morning, a check by Press men revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had uploaded approximately 97% of the results from the 4,519 polling units onto its Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The early results indicate a neck-and-neck race between the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, and his APC counterpart, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
According to the data available on INEC’s IReV portal, Ighodalo is leading in the Edo South Senatorial District, while Okpebholo has secured a significant lead in the Edo North Senatorial District.
Although the Labour Party (LP) was initially projected to be a formidable contender in the election, its candidate, Olumide Akpata, is trailing behind in a distant third place, based on the uploaded results so far.
Some notable political figures, including Governor Godwin Obaseki, PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo, PDP deputy governorship candidate Osarodion Ogie, and APC stalwart Senator Adams Oshiomhole, won their respective polling units.
However, LP candidate Olumide Akpata lost his polling unit to the PDP.
Despite initial concerns of disruptions, the election process was largely peaceful, with only a few incidents of arrests.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made several arrests in connection with alleged vote-buying.
However, the PDP has raised concerns over potential efforts to manipulate the election results.
In a statement issued late Saturday, the party accused the APC of plotting to use thugs to attack the collation centre in an attempt to influence the outcome.
The PDP also claimed that the APC was pressuring INEC and the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to suspend the collation process to facilitate potential manipulation.
As of now, INEC is continuing with the collation of results, with the final outcome of the election eagerly awaited by both political parties and the general public.
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