Edo, centred on the ancient city of Benin, has had some of the most dramatic governorship politics of the Fourth Republic. A court ruling in 2008 handed the state to the opposition and moved it off-cycle, so it now votes in September, more than a year after the general elections. Since then its governors have repeatedly fallen out with their predecessors, and the state has swung from the PDP to the opposition, back and forth.
1999 and 2003: Igbinedion
Lucky Igbinedion, son of the businessman Gabriel Igbinedion, won the January 1999 election for the PDP with 556,871 votes against 249,688 for Lucky Imasuen of the All People’s Party. He was re-elected in April 2003 with 969,747 votes, beating the ANPP’s Roland Owie. In December 2008, after leaving office, he was convicted on a single charge under a plea bargain with the EFCC and fined, a sentence widely criticised as too lenient.
2007 and 2008: Oshiomhole wins in court
The PDP’s Oserheimen Osunbor, a law professor and senator, was declared the winner in April 2007 with 329,740 votes against 197,472 for Adams Oshiomhole, the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, running for the Action Congress. Oshiomhole challenged the result, and on 11 November 2008 the Court of Appeal in Benin declared him the rightful winner. He was sworn in the next day, which is why Edo has voted off-cycle ever since.
2012: a landslide
Oshiomhole was re-elected on 14 July 2012 with 477,478 votes against 144,255 for the PDP’s Charles Airhiavbere, a result seen as a defeat for the long-time PDP leader Tony Anenih.
2016: Obaseki
Oshiomhole’s choice to succeed him, Godwin Obaseki, an investment banker who had chaired the state’s economic team, won on 28 September 2016 with 319,483 votes (52.1%) against 253,173 for the PDP’s Osagie Ize-Iyamu. The vote had been postponed by two weeks at the request of the police and the DSS.
2020: the switch
Obaseki and Oshiomhole, by then national chairman of the APC, fell out badly. In June 2020 an APC screening committee disqualified Obaseki from the party’s primary. He left the APC, joined the PDP and became its candidate, while Ize-Iyamu, his 2016 opponent, ran for the APC. On 19 September 2020 Obaseki won with 307,955 votes (57.3%) to 223,619 (41.6%).
2024: the APC returns
Obaseki fell out with his own deputy, Philip Shaibu, who was impeached in 2024. The PDP nominated the lawyer and businessman Asue Ighodalo, and the APC Senator Monday Okpebholo. On 21 September 2024 INEC declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes against Ighodalo’s 247,274, with the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata a distant third on 22,763. PDP supporters protested at the INEC office, alleging that results had been altered during collation. The tribunal, the Court of Appeal and, in July 2025, the Supreme Court upheld Okpebholo’s victory.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Lucky Igbinedion (PDP) | 556,871 | Lucky Imasuen (APP) | 249,688 |
| 2003 | Lucky Igbinedion (PDP) | 969,747 | Roland Owie (ANPP) | not published |
| 2007 | Oserheimen Osunbor (PDP); overturned for Oshiomhole in 2008 | 329,740 | Adams Oshiomhole (AC) | 197,472 |
| 2012 | Adams Oshiomhole (ACN) | 477,478 | Charles Airhiavbere (PDP) | 144,255 |
| 2016 | Godwin Obaseki (APC) | 319,483 | Osagie Ize-Iyamu (PDP) | 253,173 |
| 2020 | Godwin Obaseki (PDP) | 307,955 | Osagie Ize-Iyamu (APC) | 223,619 |
| 2024 | Monday Okpebholo (APC) | 291,667 | Asue Ighodalo (PDP) | 247,274 |
What comes next
Edo does not elect a governor in the February 2027 general elections. Okpebholo’s term runs to November 2028, and the next governorship election is due in 2028.
