President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for his victory in Saturday’s Edo State governorship election.

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

In a statement on Sunday by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu urged Okpebholo “not to gloat over his victory but to see it as a challenging call to service”.

The President encouraged him to “demonstrate magnanimity by reaching out to his political rivals and uniting the people of Edo State to ensure its development”.

Tinubu also praised other candidates who participated in the election for their contributions to advancing Nigeria’s democracy, saying peaceful political contests, such as the one on Saturday, portray Nigeria as a stable democracy.

“The President urges all those aggrieved by the election outcome to seek redress through the legal channels.

“I commend the INEC and our security agencies for working round the clock to conduct a successful, peaceful and largely hitch-free exercise.

“INEC has once again demonstrated that it is committed to organising a free and fair election in our country,” the President was quoted as saying.