The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked allegations levelled against it by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors that it manipulated the results of the Edo State gubernatorial polls held on September 21, 2024.
INEC had declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as the winner with 291,667 votes, while the PDP candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, trailed with 247,274 votes. Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata came third with 22,761 votes.
Reacting to the PDP Governors Forum’s accusations, INEC criticized the claims of electoral irregularities and tampering, stating that the election was conducted transparently and in line with established guidelines.
The PDP Governors Forum, which concluded a two-day meeting in Jos, Plateau State, on Saturday, had insisted that irregularities cost its candidate victory in Edo State.
The governors accused INEC of tampering with results to favour the APC and highlighted alleged incidents of vote-buying in the recent Ondo election.
“The forum notes with concern the rape of democracy in Edo governorship elections. It is clear to everyone with conscience that INEC manipulated results in favour of the APC candidate when in fact majority of lawful votes were won by the PDP candidate, Mr. Asue Ighodalo.
“Meanwhile, we are still examining the documents in Ondo elections where the APC manipulated results after openly buying votes. The forum calls on the judiciary to save Nigerian democracy and the National Assembly to look into our electoral laws to make it difficult for institutional sabotage of the will of the people,” the PDP Governors’ Forum said in its communique.
But reacting to the accusations, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, described the claims as “unfortunate and inappropriate.”
“As a law-abiding organisation, we cannot comment on a matter that is before the court. It is sub judice,” Oyekanmi stated.
He criticised the PDP governors for pursuing what he called a “media trial,” urging the party to present its evidence in court rather than raising unsubstantiated claims in public.
“Interestingly, it is the PDP that filed the petition at the tribunal to challenge the result of the Edo State governorship election that is now canvassing the same issues in the media. One would expect the party and its candidate to tender their evidence in court to prove the allegations detailed in their petition, rather than embark on media trial,” he said.
Addressing claims regarding the Ondo State election, Oyekanmi defended INEC’s performance, describing it as one of the best elections conducted by the commission.
“We do not claim it was a perfect election, but it was a good outing,” he remarked.
