The United States Mission in Nigeria has commended the ‘peaceful’ conduct of the just-concluded governorship election in Edo State, ignoring the myriads of illegalities that marred the election.
The Saturday election in the South-South Edo state was fraught with vote buying and bullying of opposition members by the Police.
While the US maintained a loud silence on these irregularities, it commended the people of Edo for being peaceful.
The commendation was contained in a statement signed by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Richard Mills Jr., on Tuesday.
Mills commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for his call for calm and urged all stakeholders to uphold the ‘integrity’ of the electoral process.
The statement read: “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria commends the people of Edo State for the widely peaceful conduct of gubernatorial elections on September 21 and reiterates calls for calm following the announcement of results.
“We commend Governor Obaseki’s appeal for peace and urge all stakeholders, including INEC, to support established electoral processes and respect legal procedures to challenge results. Transparency and due process are crucial to maintaining public confidence in any democratic system. The United States reaffirms our commitment to supporting free, fair, transparent, and credible elections in Nigeria and will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, announced Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner.
Okpebholo scored 291,667 votes, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 247,274, while Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party came third with 22,761 votes.
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