Godwin Obaseki, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has been declared the winner of the Edo State governorship election held on Saturday.
Obaseki polled a total of 307, 955 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who got 223, 619 votes, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Godwin Obaseki of the PDP, having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner,” Johnson Alalibo, INEC’s chief returning officer in the state, announced on Sunday afternoon.
The PDP candidate won with a difference of 84,336 over APC’s Ize-Iyamu. While Obaseki won 13 of 18 local governments in Edo State, Ize-Iyamu won in five local government areas.
Obaseki won his first election in 2016 as a candidate of the APC, principally supported by Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past governor and former chairman of the APC. Ize-Iyamu was then the candidate of the PDP.
But in the course of his term as the governor, Obaseki became estranged with Oshiomhole, causing an epic political battle now capped off with his election victory.
The battle contributed to the fall of Mr Oshiomhole as the chairman of the APC. But Obaseki also could not get that party’s ticket and he had to switch to the PDP with his deputy, Phillip Shaibu.
