Oshiomhole demands Obaseki’s probe as Okpebholo gets INEC certificate

A former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday, called for the probe of the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki as his administration winds down in about two months’ time.

Oshiomhole made the call as the winner of last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, alongside his running mate, Dennis Idahosa, was presented with his Certificate of Return by the  Independent National Electoral Commission.

Okpebholo is set to succeed Obaseki, whose second term ends on November 11.

Oshiomhole urged the World Bank to probe Obaseki’s use of its $75m fund for the Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation.

Oshiomhole said he was excited that the All Progressives Congress had reclaimed Edo State after Obaseki’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, lost last Saturday’s governorship poll to Okpebholo of the APC.

“God has brought him (Okpebholo) to rescue Edo people, restore integrity, rebuild our schools, employ teachers so that parents don’t need to contribute money to pay teachers.

“All the fraud that Obaseki was doing with so-called World Bank money, and I think the World Bank will want even to investigate what he did with that money when you have schools without teachers, and you are doing EdoBEST. He left Edo worse.

“Senator Monday Okpebholo’s job is well cut out for him. Edo people cannot wait to see a new approach to governance: government of the people, by the people and for Edo people. Incidentally, his name, translated in English, means the rescuer,” said Oshiomhole.

Oshiomhole urged the opposition to work with the new government, saying: “In a genuine democracy, there is no loser. If Monday Okpebholo does everything he promised to do—employ teachers, rebuild schools, clean up the mess in the road, restore the market, support farmers, dealing with issues of insecurity—everybody will be safe. And so we are all winners.”

“So my advice to them is to accept it. This issue has been resolved. Let us work closer. And I expect Monday to join forces to ensure that the Edo people enjoy the benefits of democracy and good governance,” he added.

When contacted for a reaction to Oshiomhole’s statement, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, said the government would react later.

Okpebholo and Idahosa received their certificates of return from  INEC’s  National Commissioner in charge of Edo State Rhoda Gumus, at a ceremony in Abuja.

Okpebholo, the governorship candidate of the APC, was declared the winner of the tightly contested Edo governorship election after polling 291,667 votes to edge out his closest contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who garnered 247,274.

Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata finished third with 22,761 votes.

Okpebholo and Idahosa received their certificates on Thursday amid calls for the cancellation of the poll result by the PDP, which alleged the exercise was manipulated.

Speaking after receiving his certificate, the Edo governor-elect said, Okpebholo expressed his readiness to work for the people of Edo State.

He noted, “I feel very happy and it is time for me to work and that is what I am going to do.”

He added that he was open to working with the opposition parties if they have “beautiful” and “acceptable” ideas for the people.

Okpebholo urged his closest rivals— Ighodalo and Akpata—to “bear” with the outcome of last Saturday’s election, promising to serve the Edo people.

“If they have a beautiful idea that is acceptable to the people, then why not? My door is open to everybody,” he told State House Correspondents after meeting President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, presented the new governor-elect to Tinubu.

On Sunday night, the INEC declared Okpebholo the winner of the election. However, the opposition has since rejected the results, alleging that irregularities, including vote-buying and manipulation of results, marred the election.

PDP’s Ighodalo accused INEC  of inflating the APC’s vote totals and reducing those of the PDP.

Ighodalo described the process as a “brazen theft” of the people’s mandate and vowed to challenge the result through legal means.

 Labour Party candidates and other opposition groups also expressed dissatisfaction, calling for a unified opposition to counter the APC’s dominance.