Yusuf Asamah Kadiri, the running mate of the Labour Party in the Edo governorship election says the ticket would have emerged victorious if the election was free and fair.

Kadiri, during an interview on Arise TV, said that vote buying derailed the party's governorship candidate, Olumide Akpata, from winning the elections.

Olumide Akpata finished a distant third, polling 22,763 votes, while Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election with 291,667 votes, and Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 247,274 votes.

The Returning Officer, Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, announced the results, stating, “Okpebholo Monday of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected,” at exactly 09:27 pm, to joyful cheers from APC supporters at the collation center in Benin City, the state capital, on Sunday.

However, during an appearance on Arise TV’s programme, the Morning Show, Kadiri said: “In a free and fair atmosphere, we would have won that election. We are still consulting internally on whether we should go to court or not.

“We are the only ones that campaigned all across the local government, so we felt their pains. We went to the remotest villages, and they expressed their pains.

“What transpired on the election day was money playing a role. Many said they wanted to vote for the Labour Party but changed their minds. There was a path to victory, but money obstructed that path.”