Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
Mr Dennis Idahosa, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been declared winner of the Ovia Federal Constituency in Edo State.
Idahosa, a former Commissioner in Edo, polled a total of 28,509 to defeat the incumbent Ms Omosede Igbinedion, daughter Chief Gabriel Igbinedion who scored 23, 345 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer, Prof. Victor Igbinedion of the University of Benin, announced the final result at Iguobazuwa, headquarters of Ovia South West Local Government Area.
He said “Having polled the highest number of votes cast, Idahosa of the APC has certified all electoral conditions, and is returned elected as the winner of the Ovia Federal Constituency seat elections conducted on Saturday”.
In his address after he was declared winner, Idahosa who dedicated the victory to God, noted that it was the “voice of the people against bad representation.”
He further said that the people of the constituency had clearly shown, with their votes, that the mandate to liberate the federal constituency is sacrosanct.
Idahosa stressed that never again would one single individual decideswho and what becomes what in the constituency.
While promising to entrench good representation, he promised to remain magnanimous in victory.
“It is in this light that I enjoin all the good people of Ovia, both those who supported me and those who worked against me, my opponents and the APC aspirants, who I contested the party’s ticket with, to work with me for the betterment of the constituency.
“This election was not all about Dennis Idahosa, but the people, who have yearned for a better and effective representation this past years,” he stated.
The APC candidate won 18 of the 23 wards in the constituency, while the PDP candidate won five.
Further breakdown of the result showed that the APC candidate won in 9 of the 13 wards available in Ovia North East Local Government Area, and 9 in the 10 in Ovia South West Local Government.
