Report ‘Exposes’ How Edo Governorship Election Was Allegedly Rigged In Favour Of APC

The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) published a report on Monday, 27th January, outlining allegations of manipulation regarding the results of the Edo State governorship election held on September 21, 2024.

The report highlighted how the Edo State governorship election was reportedly influenced to ensure a win for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

According to the report on the FIJ website, the election was marred by various irregularities, including voter suppression, incidents of violence, and the alteration of results.

The report implicates both the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), highlighting specific irregularities in the Etsako West Local Government Area, where the ruling party reportedly received 32,107 votes compared to the 17,483 votes for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Furthermore, the report asserts that the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the collation results from this area was marked as a “Replacement Copy” and did not bear the official INEC stamp typically found on CTCs from other local government areas.

Additionally, it is alleged that the collation process at the Auchi Council Hall was interrupted by gunfire in the early hours of September 22, resulting in the loss of crucial electoral documents.

“In Oredo, results in 53 PUs were altered in APC’s favour: 52 in Ward 2 and one in Ward 3.

“When inflations and deductions for both parties are considered in these units in Oredo, Egor and Akoko Edo, the APC scored an excess of 16,839 while the PDP had a deficit of 4,065 votes, leaving a margin of 12,774 votes.

“FIJ found more discrepancies in Ikpoba Okha LGA where the APC had inflated EC8B collated results in PUs where the CTC and IReV had different figures from those used in results declaration. Ikpoba Okha had 18 of such PUs in ward 10.

“In Etsako East, the party’s results were inflated in two pulling units (PU 5 Ward 1 and PU 9 Ward 7). Also, there were inflations in PU 31 Ward 4 of Esan West, PU 9 Ward 6 in Esan South East, PU 27, Ward 9 of Egor, PU 14 Ward 9 of Akoko Edo, PU 12 Ward 10 of Orhionmwon, and PUs 43 and 1 in wards 6 and 9 of Ovia North East. Wards 1, 2, 7 and 11 in Oredo also had 66 polling units with inflated EC8B results for the APC and vote reductions for the PDP.

“The total results in these polling units should have given the APC a 3,966 score, but they scored 13,935. This represents an excess of 9,969. Meanwhile, the PDP had 1,858 votes chalked off their total in these units,” the FIJ report noted.

FIJ further alleged that certain stakeholders within the APC were involved in orchestrating voter suppression in areas dominated by other political parties, as well as exerting influence over INEC officials to alter results during the collation process.

The report highlighted that numerous polling units did not adhere to this mandate despite the requirement for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to be used for the electronic transmission of results.

FIJ noted that in some regions, results were manually collated, which opened the door for potential manipulation.

Naijaonpoint recalls that the PDP’s governorship candidate for the Edo election, Asue Ighodalo, had characterized the Edo election as “the worst election in the history of this country.”

While the APC and the electoral commission have repeatedly refuted these claims, the PDP candidate has accused INEC and the police of actively collaborating with the ruling party to rig the election.

In response, the PDP has lodged a legal petition challenging the election results, citing violations of the Electoral Act and widespread irregularities.