The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented a certificate of return to the Edo state governor-elect, Godwin Obaseki following his victory in the Edo state governorship election.
Speaking at the ceremony held at the headquarters of the commission in Benin City, the Edo state capital, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Sam Olumekun, advised the Governor-elect to put the interest of the people first during his tenure.
Godwin Obaseki in his response said that his victory is proof that professionalism also pays in politics pledging to deepen democracy and build a people-oriented economy within the next four years.
Mr Godwin Obaseki emerged winner of the Edo State governorship election which held on Wednesday, September 28 after polling a total of 319,483 votes while his closest rival from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Osagie Ize-Iyamu, polled 253,173 votes.
The joy of his supporters knew no bounds as they took to the major streets of Benin City, the state’s capital to celebrate their party’s victory in what was described as a free and fair election.
This is was in spite of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu rejecting the results announced by INEC, alleging that voters were induced and that the state government collaborated with INEC to doctor the results in favour of the APC.
WATCH VIDEO: PDP Candidate Rejects Edo Election Results
Both parties have since then been trading words over the fairness of the Edo election, with the ruling party insisting that it won the election fairly, having earned the victory through several achievements in the state in the past eight years.
The APC in Edo state has also described the PDP as “bad losers” for questioning the authenticity of the results announced by INEC.
Meanwhile, the national leadership of
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has joined the Edo State chapter to reject the results of the governorship election and has vowed to reclaim what it called its “stolen mandate”.
“We did not lose the Gubernatorial Election in Edo State. We can therefore not be described as “bad losers” according to the APC State Chairman in Edo State, Anselm Ojezua. We were robbed by very shameless election riggers.
“We fully support the Edo Chapter of the PDP in the total rejection of the election results. We also fully endorse their determination to employ all legitimate means to reclaim their stolen mandate,” the party said.
The national leadership of the APC are not deterred by the PDP’s threat as congratulatory messages continued to pour in for the Edo governor-elect.
Among them are messages from the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, House of Reps Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and President Muhammadu Buhari, whose words particularly were singled out for condemnation by the PDP.
Job Creation
Mr Godwin Obaseki has also appeared only bothered about fulfilling “the key promise of his administration” which is job creation.
Speaking on Channels Television’s News At 10 few hours after INEC declared him winner of the Edo election, Obaseki said that creating an enabling environment for employment to thrive, through vocational training and skill acquisition programmes, is his immediate priority.
He explained that his approach would be first to document the available unemployment data in the state to form the basis of the implementation of his plans.
“These will include short term vocational training, skill acquisition and other technical trainings we need to provide them.
“The key here is trying to get people back to work, creating opportunities for them to work,” he said.
Also top on the mind of Mr Obaseki is building infrastructure and reforming the educational system in the state.
He described his victory as humbling yet deserved because of the hard work of his party in the state over the years.
“We have worked very hard over the last eight years to re-establish governance in Edo state. So we had a lot to show to our people and we were able to convince them why we needed to continue with the development strides we started about eight years ago,” Mr Obseki said.
