A recent report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism has revealed that the Edo State governorship election was systematically rigged in favor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) through a deliberate and orchestrated scheme through INEC.
FIJ revealed that exactly seven days before the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorhsip election, Godwin Obaseki, the state’s then governor, described the exercise as a ‘do-or-die affair’ with violence and manipulation in the offing.
“This election is do or die; if they do, we will die. Next Saturday by this time, vote for the PDP [Peoples Democratic Party] to become the next governor,” he said during his party’s rally in the Ekemwan area of the state.
As 17 political parties prepared for election day, over 35,000 policemen arrived in the state. Military personnel and officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) joined to boost security and help the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
When the exercise ended, Frank Mba, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) charged with security during the election, said the conduct was peaceful and there were no incidents of violence or manipulation.
But FIJ has found contradictory evidence that the conduct was flawed before, during and after election day.
When the election ended, INEC announced that Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) candidate, garnered 291,667 valid votes, with PDP’s Asue Ighodalo getting 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) 22,763 votes, making up the top three of the 17 candidates. The gap between winner and runner-up was 44,393 votes.
The commission relied on results from all 18 local government areas in the state, but one stood out: Etsako West.
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Sources told FIJ that INEC did not have the result of collated ballots for this LGA’s 12 wards but went on to announce a total without them. Emerging victorious here, the APC got 32,107 votes, while the PDP got 17,483—a whopping gap of 14,624 votes.
After INEC announced results for an LGA without election materials, the commission said it was still awaiting results to arrive from Oredo and Ikpoba Okha LGAs.
Faruk Adamu Kuta, the commission’s Returning Officer, announced the suspension of the exercise on September 22, saying collation officers from the outstanding LGAs were yet to arrive with their reports. Well, these results later arrived.
Two days later, INEC and the APC issued statements explaining why collation could not occur in those areas. According to them, Mba had claimed there were security threats, and it was only safer to collate in Benin, the capital city.
Meanwhile, when the results sheet arrived in Benin, there were figures for all but Oregbeni ward in Ikpoba Okha, with 10,928 accredited voters. There, the commission cancelled results. Why? INEC never said.
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