The main opposition party also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the polling units (PUs) within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022. Similarly, the former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and the party’s governorship candidate in the state, Olumide Akpata, rejected the poll’s outcome, describing it as state capture. However, the victorious APC dismissed the claims, saying that its candidate rightfully won the election.
Director of publicity in the APC Campaign Council, Omo-Ojo Orobosa, dismissed allegations of vote buying, describing the claim a myopic. President Bola Tinubu, while congratulating the APC and Okpebholo, urged all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through legal channels. He said the victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals and economic reengineering programme, and commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians.
Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa, in a post-election statement, said the exercise was flawed by compromised INEC and security personnel. It also called on INEC to urgently clarify the inconsistencies in some results, especially those from Oredo, Egor, and Esan West local government areas (LGAs). For its part, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa) called for the speedy and thorough investigation and trial of vote b.
