Edo Governorship Race: Obaseki Retains Seat As PDP Emerges Victorious
Zainab Tanimu
Kaduna, North-West, Nigeria
The Governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki who on the 29th September 2016, assumed the mantle of leadership under the ticket of the ruling party, All Progressive Congress, APC, but before the 2020 governorship race decamped to the People Democratic Party, PDP has retained his seat.
This came as a result of the PDP’s victory at the just concluded election.
Governor Godwin Obaseki scored the highest number of votes in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election.
He polled 307,955 votes to defeat his main contender, Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former candidate of the PDP, who had 223,619 votes
Obaseki won in 13 of the 18 local government areas of Edo state. This gave him more than 25 per cent of votes cast in two-thirds of the local governments in the state.
With him meeting the constitutional requirements, he was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday in Benin, the state capital.
The chief returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Johnson Alalibo, made the announcement on Sunday.
It will be recalled that in 2016, the immediate past governor of Edo state and former Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole played a vital role in ensuring Obaseki’s victory.
But somewhere along the line, these two fell apart, a situation political pundits described as what has manifested into the political scenerio that has unfolded today.
