Edo Decides: Night of drama and intrigues
By Ishaya Ibrahim
As it is usually the case in Nigerian elections, the big elephant in the room is usually the collation of results. The actual voting which is usually done in daytime is smooth and in most cases stakeholders hail the process.
But, the devil is usually in the details and the details is usually the collation of results which starts in the dead of the night when the manipulation starts and forgery of results ensues.
At this stage, the agents of the political parties are usually chased out of the collation covens by policemen who give cover to the electoral officers to do the manipulation, changing the result that was collected at the polling booths.
And immediately the collated results are announced, those holding the short end of the electoral stick are told to go to court, where the injustice will be cemented.
That seems to be the scenario playing out in the standalone, off-cycle governorship election which held in Edo State on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
The difference this time is that there is stiff resistance from the longsuffering people of Edo State. Hence the collation has been postponed to 10am today.
READ ALSO: Odinkalu warns Mahmood, says Nigeria ‘ll suffer if INEC bungles Edo guber election
Trouble started late in the night when the leading election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised alarm over manipulation of the Edo State governorship election results at the LGA collation centres and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to resist it.
While a PDP leader said that rigging was being perpetuated in collation centres especially in Edo North, Yiaga Africa, in a post at its verified X handle, @YIAGA, said reports from its LGA centre observers “indicate disruptions in the collation process for Oredo and Ikpoba/Okha.”
The tweet read: “Observers and INEC officials are being teargassed in Ikpoba/Okha. We want to emphasize that collating LGA results at the state headquarters violates the established procedure for results collation.
“We urge @inecnigeria to stand firm against intimidation and interference. Electoral law permits accredited observers, media, and party agents to monitor results collation at all levels. Failure to address these issues risks undermining the legitimacy of what has been a peaceful process since its commencement.”
But, apparently, Yiaga Africa’s intervention did not stop the manipulation, leading to Governor Godwin Obaseki, in the wee hours of today, Sunday, September 22, 2024, storming the INEC head office in Benin.
The INEC head office in Benin, Edo State capital, is the main collation centre for the ongoing governorship election.
Accompanied by his security aides, the governor walked into the office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Anugbum Onuoha, for a meeting which did not last 30 minutes.
However, members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Monday Okpebholo’s running mate, Dennis Idahosa, led protesters to demand the exit of Governor Obaseki from the INEC premises at about 3.30am.
Idahosa, who was shouting on top of his voice from outside the gate, demanded alongside others for the exit of the governor as he stated that he had no business being there.
He said, “Obaseki must come out. He is not supposed to be here. He is not an INEC staff. Nigeria Police should not compromise.”
The protesters at interval tried to gain entrance into the premises of INEC but they were prevented from entering even when they repeatedly banged on the gate.
At some point during the drama, the DIG in-charge of the election, Frank Mba, came into the premises with his team and headed to where Obaseki was sitting.
Tension stated rising Saturday night when INEC was forced to acknowledge a second complaint regarding discrepancies in polling unit results.
In a statement posted on its official X account late Saturday night, INEC assured the public of swift action, vowing to investigate allegations of incorrect figures being entered into result sheets.
An outraged Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, complained that funny things happened overnight in alleged plot to overturn the outcome of the election.
Ighodalo expressed outrage over the relocation of the collation of the results from two Benin City local governments and what he termed as outrageous results of 100% turnout in areas of Edo North.
Speaking after collation was aborted in Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha, Ighodalo lamented what he called the conspiracy between INEC officials and police to subvert the will of the people.
He said: “There is supposed to be collation in some local governments in Oredo and Ikpboba Okha and all of a sudden, some people came in threw tear gas and kind of drove out everybody that was there outside the office. They have now insisted that all of that collation should now come in into the INEC state headquarters.
“The problem was that our agents didn’t tell us that they were not being allowed into INEC headquarters. So, my deputy and I came in to find out why our agents were not being allowed into the INEC headquarters.
“Too many funny things going on all of a sudden and there seems to be INEC complicity, police complicity working together. This cannot be right for democracy in this country.
“They are trying to suppress the will of the people of Edo State and it will not happen. By God’s grace, Edo people will stand and fight for their rights.
“All of a sudden you see all these funny results coming out from Edo North. It doesn’t make sense, how do you have the full number of (registered) voters when you know that averagely it is 25% coming out to vote? All of a sudden they are having 90%, 100%.
“Everybody sees this clearly but they want to subvert democracy clearly by all means. The desperation for power by those who have nothing to offer the people of this country is just incredible.
“The people of Edo State who have exercised their right to vote for the candidate that they want will stand up and fight for their votes. It is not about me, it is about us.”
Meanwhile, after immense pressure from Governor Godwin Obaseki, his Delta State counterpart, Sheriff Oborevwori and other PDP stakeholders, INEC) decided to postpone the collation of results to 10 am on Sunday, September 22.
In a statement, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, announced the development in the early hours of the morning following increased pressure from the PDP for the umpire to stick to the dictates of the electoral law, siting an earlier decision to jettison collation procedures.
“This is to inform the general public, political stakeholders and observers that the collation of results for the ongoing Edo State Governorship election will resume today (Sunday) 22nd September, 2024 at 10.00am,” the REC said.
PDP supporters had stormed the State INEC office after the umpire stopped collation in several local governments in Edo South and moved the exercise to the state party secretariat over supposed security concerns.
Governor Obaseki, his Delta counterpart, Sheriff Oborevwori and other concerned stakeholders raised the alarm over skipping of the collation procedures, as the Deputy Governorship candidate of the PDP, Osarodion Ogie Esq., noted that collation was halted in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area and moved to the State INEC office with party agents restricted from accessing the collation exercise.