#EDODECIDES: Obaseki is Governor-elect – INEC
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The sitting Governor and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday September 19, 2020 election in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has been declared winner of the all-important electoral process.
With a wider margin of 84,336 in the personality-based electoral contest, Obaseki, with full support of his deputy, Phillip Shaibu scored clear votes of 307,955 to defeat his closest rival, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 223,619.
Invariably, the governor has laughed last as he finally got the second he was disqualified from accessing in his “former” party APC by an ostensibly orchestrated Adams Oshiomhole tele-guided screening process.
The Edo election, many have said, has boosted the image and popularity of President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to free, fair, credible election and refusal to use the Federal might under his control to deprive opposition candidates their rights to level playing field.
Asides that, the election is also now generally viewed as one which has set a new dawn for the Edo State people in the ongoing Forth Republic as the people celebrate the death of godfatherism in the state.
Governor Obaseki was returned elected after polling the highest number of votes in the keenly-contested poll conducted on Saturday.
INEC Returning Officer for the poll declared the governor as the winner on Sunday at the office of the electoral umpire in Benin City, which doubled as the final collation centre.
A total of 14 political parties fielded candidates to seek for the office of the governor in the state.
It is the first governorship poll to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since the outbreak of globally afflicted Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country.
The announcement by the returning officer follows the collation of the results from all the 18 Local Government Areas of Edo where the election was conducted.
It was a dramatic process that saw Obaseki run a governorship race against Ize-Iyamu for a second time in four years.
Both men faced each other in 2016, albeit with Obasek flying the flag of the APC and Ize-Iyamu flying that of the PDP.
A political rift between the governor and Oshiomhole which spiraled beyond the state to national politics, saw both men switch parties and square up against each other on platforms they once criticised.
The campaign, characterised by drama and controversy that did not spare the State House of Assembly, was tempered by the intervention of the Oba of Benin to calm fears that the poll could turn violence heightened.
A peace accord was also signed by all the candidates days before the poll as stakeholders made concerted efforts to ensure a successful poll.
Preliminary reports from some electoral observers have held that it was mostly peaceful and largely free and fair.
