At least 25 observer groups on Wednesday thumbed down last Saturday’s governorship election in Edo State, saying it fell short of expectations.
In a statement by Mrs. Rose Akhigbe, Peter Nwokolo, Anyasor Gabriel and Sunny Elekwa on behalf of others, the groups said that the collation of results at some levels did not comply with the Electoral Act of 2022.
They expressed their satisfaction with the more than 4,500 polling unit results and some wards but rejected the collation of wards and local governments’ results in the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Benin City, which they said is contrary to the law.
The statement partly read: “We reject the result declared because there are two sets of result sheets. One was taken to the field and another one to APC in Edo North, some parts of Edo South and Edo Central.
“We observed that the military and police disrupted the collation of results at the wards and local governments’ collation centres, including intimidation of INEC officials that collated results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines. There is significant concern about the credibility of the results collation process.
“We reject the result of the election which declared the All Progressive Congress APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo winner. There was militarization and use of impunity at wards, local governments and state collation centres. INEC, military and police have violated the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 concerning the collation of results in the governorship election. Results were only collated at units and some wards.”