The Labour Party in Edo State has rejected the recently conducted rerun election, alleging irregularities and violence. Kelly Ogbaloi, the state’s Labour Party chairman, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the election and schedule another date for the rerun. Ogbaloi claimed that thugs loyal to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state had marred the exercise with violence and irregularities
Derek Uhunmwagho, a candidate for the Labour Party, was among the members who were allegedly beaten and chased away from polling units where the rerun was taking place. Ogbaloi dissociated the party from the charade where the umpire’s activities had been taken over by thugs. The Labour Party claimed that INEC had promised to look into and correct the over 2,000 votes that they were shortchanged in the previous election.
Labour Party’s national chairman, Julius Abure, also alleged that PDP agents were deployed by the state government to chase away Labour Party candidates and supporters from voting in all the affected polling units. Abure claimed that all the polling units in the local government areas where the rerun elections were held had already been won by Labour Party candidates. However, the INEC officials were allegedly compromised, resulting in the cancellation of the results and a rerun.
Governor Godwin Obaseki congratulated the PDP candidates who emerged victorious in the supplementary elections. Obaseki commended Edo people for comporting themselves responsibly during the exercise and ensuring peaceful elections. He applauded the tenacity of the PDP candidates, who gained the trust of the people to serve them in the Assembly