Nigeria - 3 Police Men Die As Ruling Party Losses Election In MidWest

Three policemen and an adhoc staff of the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official are feared drowned when a boat carrying them and other officials  and materials for Saturday's gubernatorial election, capsized in  Ethiope River.

They were taking electoral materials to riverine communities in Ologbo,Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, when the incident happened.

While details of the incident are still sketchy, it was, however, learnt that police rescue teams are searching for bodies.

It was also learnt that the dead policemen included two inspectors and one constable.

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate and incumbent governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, made good his promise to sink the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following his successful re-election with a landslide victory in the Edo governorship poll on Saturday.

Officially declaring him the winner of the election Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Chief Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of University of Benin, Professor Osayuki Oshodi, said Oshiomhole secured 477,478 or 73.73 per cent of the total votes cast, to beat his closest rival, General Charles Airhiavbere of the PDP, who came a distant second with 144,325 votes or 22.27 per cent of the votes.

His victory notwithstanding, Oshiomhole Sunday tasked the Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, to conduct an investigation into the delay in the arrival of election materials in Benin metropolis, with a view to forestalling similar logistic challenges in other parts of the country.

The governor’s win, however, elicited felicitations from President Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) who all congratulated him on his electoral victory. But the ANPP candidate, Solomon Edebiri, was unhappy with his defeat, blaming his loss on money politics.