2 months ago
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The Edo State Governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo, says he is open to working with the opposition parties if they have “beautiful” and “acceptable” ideas for the people.
This came as a former Edo State Governor who now represents Edo North District in the Nigerian Senate, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has called on the World Bank to probe the current Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki’s use of its $75m fund for the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation.
Okpebholo urged his closest rivals—Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party—to “bear” with the outcome of last Saturday’s election, promising to serve the Edo people.
“If they have a beautiful idea that is acceptable to the people, then why not? My door is open to everybody,” he told State House Correspondents after meeting President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, presented the new governor-elect to Tinubu.
On Sunday night, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Okpebholo the winner of the election, having scored the majority votes of 291,667 to defeat other contenders for the office.
INEC’s Returning Officer for the poll, Prof Faruk Kuta, announced, “That Okpebholo Monday of APC, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
His closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, garnered 247,274 votes, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party came a distant third with 22,761 votes. Fourteen other candidates vied for the seat but scored far fewer votes than the three frontline candidates.
However, the opposition has since rejected the results, alleging that irregularities, including vote-buying and manipulation of results, marred the election. PDP’s Ighodalo rejected the outcome, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission of inflating the APC’s vote totals and reducing those of the PDP.
Ighodalo described the process as a “brazen theft” of the people’s mandate and vowed to challenge the result through legal means. Labour Party candidates and other opposition groups also expressed dissatisfaction, calling for a unified opposition to counter the APC’s dominance.
They highlighted the need for stronger alliances to address what they called systemic issues in Nigerian elections, particularly the role of financial inducements and security failures in influencing voter behaviour.
But Okpebholo has urged his political opponents to “bear it” and “wait” for another election cycle, saying he expects congratulatory greetings from them as he would have had he lost.
“They have to bear it. They have to wait. It has happened. If I had lost, I would have borne it, and I would have, by now, congratulated the winner. So, I’m expecting them to congratulate me.
The soon-to-be governor, who promised to serve his people, called his administration “a new dawn” for the 33-year-old state.
He said, “For me, I’m coming as a servant to serve the Edo people. That is what is required of me, and that is exactly what I’m going to do.
“So very soon, you will see a lot of development coming up in Edo. We are going to employ teachers.
“We are going to renovate our schools…a lot will be happening over time. So, with time, you recognise that a new dawn has happened.”
Meanwhile, Oshiomhole, urged the World Bank to probe the current Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki’s use of its $75m fund for the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation.
Oshiomhole said he is excited that the APC had reclaimed the state after Obaseki defected from the APC to the PDP in 2020 following a godfather-godson fallout with him.
“God has brought him (Okpebholo) to rescue Edo people, restore integrity, rebuild our schools, employ teachers so that parents don’t need to contribute money to pay teachers.
“All the fraud that Obaseki was doing with so-called World Bank money, and I think the World Bank will want even to investigate what he did with that money when you have schools without teachers and you are doing EdoBEST. He left Edo worse.
“Senator Monday Okpebholo’s job is well cut out for him. Edo people cannot wait to see a new approach to governance: government of the people, by the people, and for Edo people. Incidentally, his name, translated in English, means the rescuer,” said Oshiomhole.
He urged the opposition to work with the new government, saying: “In a genuine democracy, there is no loser. If Monday Okpebholo does everything he promised to do—employ teachers, rebuild schools, clean up the mess in the road, restore the market, support farmers, dealing with issues of insecurity—everybody will be safe. And so we are all winners.”
“So my advice to them is to accept it. This issue has been resolved. Let us work closer. And I expect Monday to join forces to ensure that the Edo people enjoy the benefits of democracy and good governance,” he added.
