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The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday officially rejected the Edo State Governorship election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission and demanded an immediate review of the poll results by the electoral body.

During a press conference in Abuja, acting National Chairman, PDP, Umar Damagum, called on Nigerians to support the party’s rejection of the election results.

The Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Sunday that Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress won the Edo governorship election with 291,667 votes, defeating PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who garnered 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who came third with 22,763 votes.

Out of the 18 Local Government Areas in the state, APC won 10, while PDP secured eight.

Damagum claimed that PDP candidate, Ighodalo, was the legitimate winner of the election and alleged that the election did not meet the necessary democratic standards.

“The PDP, therefore, unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State governorship election as declared by INEC as it did not meet the minimum standard for democracy having not reflected the expressed will and aspiration of the people in line with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC Guidelines for State Governorship election,” Damagum said.

“The PDP demands that INEC, within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, review the Edo State governorship election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the polling units.”

‘Democracy under threat’

Damagum urged the people of Edo State to stay strong and steadfast amid the “brazen rigging” of the election.

“From unfolding political events in the country, the latest being the brazen rigging of the Saturday, September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election by the All Progressives Congress in connivance with government-controlled agencies, it is clear that our democracy is under threat.

“As you know and widely reported in all segments of the media, the 2024 Edo State governorship election was barefacedly compromised by the APC in collusion with unpatriotic security operatives and heavily procured officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, who viciously trampled on the votes of the people in defiance of the law and total disregard for the sovereign will of the people of Edo State,” Damagum added.

“You may recall that the PDP had on several occasions alerted of this sinister plot by the APC to subvert the election, the roles allegedly being played by AIG Zone 7, Benneth Igwe, and Edo State Commissioner of Police, Nemo Edwin-Iwo, and the appointment of a known APC apologist and supporter, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, as the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner.

“Several demands by our party for the redeployment of these officials, as well as the release of all arrested PDP members and supporters, fell on deaf ears and tend to validate PDP’s suspicion of a top-level conspiracy to rig the Edo State governorship election.”

The PDP acting chairman stated that Edo people clearly selected Ighodalo as their next governor and emphasised that only their will, as expressed at the polling units, should be respected.

He added “Nigerians and the world watched in horror as the APC-compromised security operatives and thugs unleashed terror, harassed, arrested and detained PDP members and supporters, foisted siege mentality on the people and paved the way for APC agents and procured INEC officials to manipulate the ballot process, substitute genuine results from the polling units with fictitious figures and transferred the victory clearly won by our candidate, Asue Ighodalo, to the defeated APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

“As Nigerians already know, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, results obtained from the polling units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, clearly won the election before the figures were altered at the state collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate.

“The PDP calls on all Nigerians and lovers of democracy all over the world to stand up in solidarity with the people of Edo State in rejecting this assault on the democratic rights of the people as witnessed in the Edo State Governorship election.”

When asked about their confidence in the judiciary, Damagum stated, “In this election, we shall once again test the level of preparedness of the judiciary to deliver justice where it is needed. Therefore, we cannot rule out a situation where justice will be dispensed, but the most important thing is that we shall subject them to greater scrutiny in the eyes of Nigerians. They say that when the judicial system does not work, then you don’t have a country. I don’t know if we will still have a country.”

In a related development, a senior member of the PDP National Working Committee, who spoke to The PUNCH on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, raised doubts about how the party anticipated Ighodalo could win the poll amid the internal conflicts in the party at both the state and national levels.

“Some (of us) knew it would be difficult for the party to win in Edo. How was the party supposed to succeed? Given the crisis in the PDP Edo State chapter and at the national level, it was clear that Ighodalo was heading for defeat. Many of us, along with some Nigerians, saw it coming. If we were united at both the state and national levels, we could have withstood the APC’s manipulation.”

On his part, a PDP chieftain and House of Representatives member, Ikenga Ugochinyere, chided some members of the party for masterminding the defeat of the PDP candidate in the September 21 Edo State governorship election.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH on Monday, Ugochinyere, the arrowhead of the agitation for Damagun to step aside for the North Central zone to produce a substantive chairman, also pointed accusing fingers at Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

He said, “Those who helped carry out the robbery in Edo State are the same compromised leaders of PDP who Damagun is shielding as PDP members. While Damagun and Fintiri claimed to be fighting for PDP, Wike was in another way working to ensure PDP was stopped from representing the will of the people. The party was in bed with shameless traitors while claiming to be working for Ighodalo.”

Like many PDP stakeholders, Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato South/Ideato North Federal Constituency, Imo State, maintained that Ighodalo won the election, only to lose it to what he termed “a combination of modern-day electoral criminals with traitors.”

 “Ighodalo and Obaseki won clearly but a combination of modern-day electoral criminals working with traitors in PDP that Damagun is shielding, stole it.”

On his part, Ighodalo, in a statement on Monday, said his mandate was brazenly stolen.

“Together, we ran a great campaign, and your overwhelming support was evident in the ballots before our progress was unjustly halted on September 21st, 2024 by people who do not mean well for you or for our state,” Ighdalo said.

 “That day will forever be etched in our history as one of our darkest moments, marked by the brazen theft of our mandate and the shameful subversion of the will of the people.

“Yet, in the face of this challenge, we must not be discouraged. The illusory triumph of evil over good is only temporary.”

He added, “I would like to particularly thank the good people of Edo State who defied the rains, intimidation, threats of violence, harassment, arrests and financial inducements to cast their votes for us, overwhelmingly, last Saturday, 21st September 2024. You are the true heroes of our democracy, and your sacrifices for a better Edo State will never be forgotten.

“My aspiration was not borne out of the love for power but a genuine desire to serve the people and create a pathway to prosperity for all in Edo State. I travelled through every ward and every Local government Area, sharing this message and engaging in meaningful conversations with you.

“To all our beloved supporters, thank you for believing in this vision, for your countless hours of dedication, and for every conversation you had with people about this cause.”

APC fires back

APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, disclosed on Monday that the PDP’s greatest undoing at the poll were comments made by the outgoing Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, who declared that the election would be a “do-or-die affair” because he feared the Edo people would be doomed if the APC was allowed to reclaim the state.

Addressing journalists at the party secretariat in Abuja, Ganduje said the governor’s unflattering remark, rather than putting their supporters under pressure, motivated them to prove him wrong by massively voting for Okpebholo.

The APC national chairman stated that in place of Obaseki’s do-or-die position, they insisted that their members and supporters should stick with the party’s ‘do-and-succeed’ ideology, which he said paid off at the poll.

Ganduje said, “This exercise (Edo governorship election) was a difficult one because we competed with several obstacles. We had a governor (Obaseki) who was one of our own before. We are children of the same father, but with different mothers, all engaged in the contests. So, we didn’t part well. We parted in pieces, and then he left our party for the PDP, where the fight continued until yesterday (Sunday) when we were able to reclaim power.

“Even before the election, one side is already overheating the polity. He (Obaseki) said it is a do-or-die election. But we said ‘no’, our own would be do-and-succeed. This is because if you die, who will introduce your successor? So, we are here to thank all the stakeholders.

“From what happened, we are going to use the result, the pattern of voting, successes and failures in different units to the APC institution, which is driven by knowledge. The South East has five states. But two of them belong to our big party, the APC. So we will see how we can recover many States in our favour. I now formally close (the Edo election situation room).”

Vote-buying shocks Akpata

Meanwhile, the candidate of the Labour Party, Olumide Akpata, expressed shock over the willingness of the electorate to sell their votes, noting that the transactional nature of the poll was antithetical to democratic norms.

Akpata finished third in the election with 22, 763 votes.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on Monday in Benin City, the Edo State capital, Akpata, said Saturday’s exercise was marred by vote-buying.

“Let us be clear, what transpired September 21, 2024 was not an election but a transaction. It is shocking that the electorate was willing to sell their votes. It was also enabled by those who chose to stay away, making it easier for the two dominant parties to afford a significant majority of the few votes on offer, and by those who came out and willingly sold their votes,” Akpata stated.

“To those who sold their votes, we extend our understanding, not condemnation. We acknowledge the crushing economic hardships that many of you face daily – hardships that make the immediate relief of vote selling seem like a lifeline. Yet, this short-term gain comes at an immense long term cost. We implore you to reflect deeply on the consequences of your actions, to recognise that your vote is the legacy you bequeath to future generations.”

He added that it was more worrisome that some LP faithful and agents also willingly sold their future for peanuts to the very political parties whose actions and policies had impoverished them.

Akpata also picked holes in the system of government, which he said comprises of godfathers, surrogate governors and other forces within and outside the state who hoped to puppet the governor-elect.

According to him, the implications of this for Edo State is dire as the state will continue to face the prospects of underdevelopment, misallocation of resources and governance that serves the interests of a few rather than the needs of the many.

“A troubling theme emerged on election day, a widespread vote-buying scheme by both the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party. As attested to by Yiaga Africa, a leading civil society organisation and domestic observer group, our sacred electoral process was reduced to a commodities market – a bidding war for votes.

“This practice, no less damaging than outright ballot stuffing, has effectively disenfranchised the people of Edo State.”

On whether he and his party would take legal action, Akpata said the results of the election had been submitted to his lawyer and the party to make a forensic analysis and decide what to do next.

Results manipulated

Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers for the off-cycle Edo election on Saturday, said the credibility of the election was undermined by widespread manipulation of results.

This was contained in a post-election statement co-signed by the organisation’s Chairman of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, and the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo.

Yiaga said it deployed its Process and Results Verification for Transparency methodology, which involved 300 stationary and 25 roving observers, across a representative sample of the 18 Local Government Areas in the state, which found lapses such as manipulation and disruptions at collation centres, intimidation of INEC officials, observers and party agents, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.

 “The PRVT enables Yiaga Africa to independently assess the quality of Election Day processes and verify the accuracy of the official election results as announced by INEC. Yiaga Africa observers were also deployed to the state and LGA results collation centres to observe the process, ensuring timely and accurate reporting of the election process,” Yiaga stated.

“Yiaga Africa has successfully deployed this methodology in two presidential elections and 16 off-cycle governorship elections… while there were some level of compliance in areas of material deployment and other processes, however, the incidents of results manipulation and disruptions during ward and local government collation in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor and Oredo LGAs, including intimidation of INEC officials, observers and party agents and the collation of results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, severely undermine the credibility of the election results.

“Based on reports received from the sampled PUs, Yiaga Africa can project the expected vote shares for each party within a narrow margin. However, Yiaga Africa is only able to verify the election outcome if it falls within its estimated margins. If the official results do not fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated ranges, then the results may have been manipulated.”

According to INEC, APC received 51.1% of the votes, PDP 43.3% of the votes, and LP 4.0% of the votes but based on reports from 287 of 300 (96%) sampled PUs, Yiaga Africa’s statistical analysis showed inconsistencies in the official results announced by INEC, the body stated.

“For instance, the official results announced by INEC for APC in Oredo and Egor LGAs fall outside the PRVT estimate. In Esan West LGA, the official results for PDP fall outside the PRVT estimates. Also, in Oredo LGA, the official results as announced for LP fall outside the PRVT estimates.

“These inconsistencies with Yiaga Africa’s PRVT estimates indicate that the results were altered at the level of collation. The disparities between the official results released by INEC and Yiaga Africa’s PRVT estimates indicate manipulation of results during the collation process.

Yiaga also condemned acts of violence during the elections, as well as “the actions of some biased INEC officials who altered figures during collation, including the actions of some security officials, who interfered with the collation process.”

However, the Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa lauded INEC for its conduct of the election.

The Chairperson of CDD’s Election Analysis Centre, Adele Jinadu, commended INEC at a post-election observation conference on Monday in Abuja.

He said that CDD deployed 70 accredited observers across the 18 LGAs to monitor the electoral process.

Jinadu noted that the organisation’s observers reported positively on the availability and efficiency of INEC’s BVAS machines.

“The BVAS and iReV Technology efficiently carried out accreditation and were used in virtually all polling units in a timely manner,” he said.