The Labour Party governorship candidate in Edo State, Olumide Akpata, on Wednesday faulted the outcome of the September 21 poll, saying it was marred by irregularities.
Akpata stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, saying his legal team are compiling evidence and will determine whether or not to challenge the election result in court.
His words: “It is a decision that the Labour Party and I will have to take jointly whether or not we will challenge the outcome of the election. I am going to be meeting with my lawyers; the Labour Party will also be meeting with its lawyers, and then we will come to a decision whether or not we will be challenging the outcome of the election.
“It is important for me to take a back seat and allow my lawyers, based on the evidence that we have and the evidence that is still being collected, to make the determination on my behalf.”
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the keenly contested poll.
Okpebholo raked in 291,667 votes to defeat the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes. Akpata came a distant third with 22,763 votes.
But the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) faulted the process that produced Okpebholo as the governor-elect, alleging that both the PDP and APC were involved in vote buying, adding that what transpired on September 21 was a transaction and not an election.
According to Akpata, some LP members sold their votes. “I am not saying that we won the election. I am saying there was no election; there was a transaction. It is very difficult to say who would have won or lost.
“300,000 votes, by our estimation, were bought by the two parties actively participating in that bazaar. That is enough to swing any election. Some stayed at home, but a large number (of voters) came out and sold their votes. What happened was tragedy. Members of my party sold their votes,” he added.
