.PDP protest results
.Observers express concern over INEC’s preparedness
By Ozioruva Aliu
BENIN CITY – THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has maintained its dominance of the politics of Edo North Senatorial District as its candidate in last Saturday’s election won the election scoring 291,667 votes to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Asue Ighodalo who scored a total of 247,274 while Oumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 22,763
Announcing the final results over 24 hours after polls closed on Saturday, the Returning Officer, Professor Farouk Adamu Kuta, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, revealed that Okpebholo won the election after securing the highest number of votes.
He declared Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election with 291,667 votes, while Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with a total of 247,274 votes. Meanwhile, Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) polled 22,763 votes to come third in third in the election.
He said, “I, Prof. Faruq Adamu Kuta, I certify that I am the Returning officer for the Edo state governorship election held on September 21, 2024… That Okpebholo of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.”
In Edo North, APC won in the five local government areas with large margins;
Akoko-Edo local government area, APC-34,847, LP – 2239, PDP – 15, 865. Owan West; APC – 12,277, LP – 201, PDP – 11,284, Owan East; APC – 19,80, LP – 446, PDP -14,189. Etsako East; APC – 20,167, LP, 604, PDP – 9,683. Etsako Central; APC – 11,906, LP – 381, PDP – 8,455. Etsako West; APC – 32,107, LP – 2116 and PDP – 17,483.
Edo Central
Esan West; APC – 12,952, LP – 342, PDP – 11,064, Esan South East; APC – 8,398, LP – 98, PDP – 14,199. Igueben; APC – 5907, LP – 494, PDP – 8.470. Esan Central; APC – 10,990, LP – 418, PDP – 8618. Esan North East; APC – 10,648, LP – 194, PDP – 12,522.
Edo South
Uhunmwonde; APC – 8,776, LP – 769 , PDP – 9,339. Ovia North East; APC – 13,225, LP – 1,675, PDP – 15,311. Ovia South West; APC – 10,150, LP – 849, PDP – 10,260. Egor; APC -16,760, LP – 1,966, PDP – 14, 658. Orhionmwon; APC – 16,059, LP – 556, PDP – 14,614. Oredo; APC – 30,780, LP – 5,359, PDP – 24,938. Ikpoba-Okha; APC – 16,338, LP – 4,076 and PDP – 26, 382.
Reacting to the result, the Acting State Chairman of the APC who was the agent of the APC, Jarret Tenebe said “Someone who God has chosen has emerged as the governor of the state because it is only God that can make this happen, he is here to correct the wrongs in this state, he will repair all the wrongs that have been done.”
On his part, Okpebolo said “I feel very happy, I thank the people of Edo State for choosing the right person. A new Edo has come and I will rebuild Edo again, I will start from where Oshiomhole has stopped and I will also replicate what Sen Godswill Akpabio has done in Akwa-Ibom State.”
Oshiomhole said Okpebholo has come to right the wrongs and feel fulfilled that all those who threatened that Edo would burn did not succeed in their plan.
On his part, Akpabio said “Though the election came with tension but it ended well. Okpebholo represents President Bol Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria and Nigeria is passing through challenges because he met it in a mess but he is trying to rebuild it. This victory will also be replicated in Ondo state next month.
To Okpbholo’s running mate, Hon Dennis Idahosa, the election was a credible one. I lost my local government with 110 votes and somebody is still saying that the election was credible? This ia a new dawn for all of us in Edo State”
PDP protests
Addressing a press conference at the PDP Situation Room inside the Edo State government house, State Chairman of the party, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi said there were discrepancies in what the INEC is announcing as results of the election as he claimed that there were some instances were the three different results were presented for polling are and in some instances, what is the recorded as total number of accredited voters was far less than what is recorded as scores.
He said in Etsako West local government area, “A simple collation of all the votes recorded in the polling unit results uploaded on the IREV shows that the APC obtained 29,858 votes while 32,107 votes was recorded in the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer. While for the PDP, a collation of the votes from the results uploaded on the IREV is 16,712 but 17,483 was returned on the EC8C declared by the LGA Returning Officer.
“It would interest you to note that the collation of the Egor LGA was not done at the designated LGA centre but was moved to the INEC State Headquarters and the PDP agent was not allowed access to be part of the exercise.
“The above highlighted irregularities which are very apparent are extremely scandalous and a brazen attempt to steal the mandate of the PDP and also a terrible embarrassment to the commission.
“We therefore demand the immediate re-collation and recomputation of the actual results for the various polling units in the above highlighted Local Government Areas in compliance with the INEC guidelines and regulations which mandate that votes from various units and wards be properly collated.”
Election Observers raise concern
Election Observers raised concerns about the transparency of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the ongoing Edo election.
They include Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, Yiaga Africa, Kimpact Development Initiative, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, ElectHER and TAF Africa
According to them “We, the undersigned accredited civil society organizations observing the 2024 Edo governorship elections, express concern over the transparency of the ongoing results collation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Reports of disruptions at ward and local government collation centres, including intimidation of INEC officials and attempts to collate results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, raise significant concerns about the credibility of the results collation process. We acknowledge INEC’s recent statement recognizing reports of result mutilation and its commitment to investigate and address any proven violations.”
They added: “In light of this, we urge INEC to invoke its powers under Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 to review any declarations and returns where results were not declared voluntarily or violated provisions of the electoral act and INEC regulations, and guidelines.
“We further call on security agencies to refrain from interference in the collation process and to ensure that accredited party agents, the media, and election observers are granted full access to collation centres. We wish to emphasize that the role of security agencies in the election is to safeguard the process and not to create a situation that will undermine the transparency of the process and thus impact negatively on the credibility of the outcome of the election.”
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