Uncertainty hangs over Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State as announcement of results at the state collation centre was yet to commence as at 5 am. This is despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) posting 98.21 per cent of the results across the state on the INEC IRev portal as at 4:55.05 am of Sunday.
With 17 candidates on the ballot on 2.2 million voters to determine the next governor of the state, all eyes are on INEC to commence the result announcement.
Meanwhile, the political parties in the election are already speculating on who won the election. Videos of celebration in the Situation Room of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has gone viral. The party has already called on President Bola Tinubu not to allow alleged manipulation of the result by INEC, with alleged collaboration by the All Progressives Congress (APC). The President is a leader of the APC.
The Director General of the PDP campaign council for the governorship election, Hon. Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, led the party members on a protest to INEC head office in Benin City, at about 2:27 am on Sunday.
The protesters alleged that the outcome of the poll was being skewed in favour of the APC.
Iduoriyekemwen said the PDP was cruising to victory but information available to the party showed that there were plans to release a final result that would not reflect the wishes of the voters.
He said: “We have information that the result is being skewed to favour Monday Okpehbolo when it is clear that our candidate is coasting to victory. We will not accept this, we will contest it”.
They were dispersed by the police shortly after speaking to journalists through the barricade.
The last statement from INEC on the election was its acknowledging complaints about wrong figures in some polling unit results. It said: “The commission’s attention has been drawn to an allegation of wrong figures entered into polling unit result sheets in the ongoing Edo State governorship election. This is the second complaint we have received out of the 4,519 polling units used for the election. The Commission will immediately investigate the matter and deal with any proven infraction”.
PDP candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo and that of the APC, Senator Monday Okpebholo are the leading gladiators in the election.
