Edo election: Results altered during guber poll – Yiaga Africa

Yiaga Africa, a civil society organization, has released a report stating that the results for three local government areas (LGAs) in the recent Edo State governorship election were altered during the collation process.

The affected LGAs mentioned by the election observer group are Oredo, Egor, and Esan West.

In a statement signed by Aisha Abdullahi and Samson Itodo, the report asserted that the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were inconsistent with the data YIAGA collected from polling units.

According to YIAGA, the election failed integrity tests and standards, leading to concerns about the manipulation of results.

Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 247,274 votes. The Labour Party candidate, Olumide Akpata, finished third with 22,763 votes.

YIAGA employed the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology, deploying 300 stationary and 25 roving observers across all 18 LGAs.

The organization compared the results collected from sampled polling units with the official results declared by INEC.

In Oredo LGA, for instance, YIAGA noted that the official vote count for APC and the Labour Party fell outside its estimated range. Similar discrepancies were found in Egor and Esan West LGAs, suggesting that results were manipulated during collation.

YIAGA has urged INEC to clarify the inconsistencies, particularly in the aforementioned LGAs, and has called for a review of the IREV portal.

They advocate for the amendment of the Electoral Act to ensure mandatory electronic transmission of results and for the investigation and prosecution of officials involved in any manipulation.

While YIAGA highlighted issues with the collation process, they also noted positive aspects of the election, such as the optimal performance of the BVAS machines and the professionalism of security agencies during the voting process, despite some interference reported during the collation.

Overall, YIAGA’s findings emphasized the need for electoral reforms to enhance the integrity of future elections in Nigeria.

Recall that before the election, the PDP called for the redeployment of Edo State Commissioner of Police, CP Nemo Edwin-Iwo, and INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha.

The demand was made on behalf of the party by its Acting National Chairman Amb. Umar Iliya Damagum, during a press conference.

The PDP also accused the APC of using violence and police harassment to manipulate the election.