Prince Yusuf Asamah Kadiri, the Labour Party (LP) governorship running mate in the just-concluded Edo elections, emphasized that the party did not buy any votes in the recently concluded governorship election in the state.

During a conversation with Arise TV on Tuesday, September 24, Kadiri denied the claims after viral reports emerged that the two leading political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), bought votes to influence the outcome of the elections.

He noted that the party could not afford the cost of paying for votes, emphasizing that even if the party had the finances, vote buying went against its principles.

"We didn't buy votes, we couldn't have bought votes, and even though we have the resources, even if we didn't have, we couldn't have matched them. It is not in our principles to get involved in that kind of shenanigans, so we didn't buy votes," he said.

After months of intense campaigning and politicking, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the closely contested Saturday, September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State.

Okpebholo, 54, secured 291,667 votes to defeat Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who came in a distant third with 22,763 votes. Fourteen other candidates contested the seat but received fewer votes than the three main candidates.

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