The Labour Celebration’s candidate within the latest Edo State Governorship election, Olumide Akpata, has attributed the get together’s third-place consequence to a deeply flawed electoral course of.
On Sunday, the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress because 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 Celebration candidate, who completed third with 22,763 votes.
Within the election, the APC gained in 10 of the state’s 18 Native Authorities Areas, whereas the PDP emerged victorious within the remaining 8.
Throughout an look on Channels Tv’s flagship programme, Politics Immediately, on Wednesday, Akpata attributed his loss to a flawed electoral system.
He mentioned, “The result, as you may see, is that the Labour Celebration got here a really distant third. Nevertheless, this was attributable to a course of that was completely flawed.
“When you think about, firstly, the extent of voter apathy, which was fairly excessive, it’s estimated that solely about 20% of eligible voters turned out to vote in Edo State, a extremely enlightened and complex group,” he acknowledged.
Expressing his considerations concerning the election outcomes, Akpata remarked, “You noticed what occurred on the collation centres, the place there was chaos at among the native authorities collation centres, and on the state collation centre, it was mayhem.
“So, that simply tells you it wasn’t an election that occurred on the twenty first. It’s advantageous to lose honest and sq., however if you realise that the Labour Celebration, from the very starting, was out of the race as a result of we apparently got here to a gunfight with a penknife. We didn’t have the sources to purchase votes, which have been clearly on supply,” he mentioned.
Akpata added, “For me, that’s how I’d describe the method: vote-buying, voter apathy, after which mayhem and chaos on the collation centres. That is how we ended up with the end result you talked about.
“I’ve sufficient humility to simply accept defeat if certainly I misplaced, however provided that it was on a stage enjoying discipline.”