The Foundation for Investigative Journalism, FIJ, on Monday released a report detailing how the outcome of the September 21, 2024, Edo State governorship election was allegedly manipulated.

FIJ, in the report published on its website, alleged that the election was manipulated to secure victory for the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

The report, sighted by our correspondent, claimed the election was fraught with irregularities, including voter suppression, violence, and the falsification of results.

The investigative report, which indicted the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, alleged some irregularities in Etsako West Local Government Area, where the ruling party was declared to have won 32,107 votes against the 17,483 votes of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

The report alleged that the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the collation results from the area was labelled as a “Replacement Copy” and lacked the official INEC stamp seen on CTCs from other LGAs.

It also alleged that the collation process at the Auchi Council Hall was disrupted by gunfire during the early hours of September 22, leading to the loss of key electoral documents.

FIJ further accused some APC stakeholders of coordinating voter suppression in the strongholds of other political parties, and influencing INEC officials to manipulate results during collation.

The report also stated that despite the mandated use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, for electronic transmission of results, many polling units failed to comply.

According to FIJ, results were collated manually in some areas, creating opportunities for manipulation.

 

Newsmen reports that Asue Ighodalo, the PDP governorship candidate, had described the Edo election as “the worst election in the history of this country.”

Although APC and the electoral umpire had on several occasions denied the allegations, the DP governorship candidate alleged that INEC and the police actively colluded with the ruling party to rig the election.

PDP has since filed a legal petition contesting the results, citing non-compliance with the electoral act and widespread irregularities.