There is palpable anxiety and confusion in Edo State over the result of the Saturday September 21, governorship election in the state.
Police Chase out Governor Obaseki from INEC office
The election which became a two-horse race between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the hard-fighting All Progressives Congress (APC) became charged when the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Frank Mba who is the overall security officer of the election ordered Governor Godwin Obaseki to leave the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City on Saturday night.
Governor Obaseki who arrived the INEC office around 2am to protest some anomalies that were allegedly being perpetrated as results from local governments were being collated was later forced out by the combined teams of police and the army led by DIG Frank Mbah.
Security operatives were alleged to have forced the governor and his entourage out while shouting “leave here” “leave here now.”
Earlier, the same fate befell the PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Asue Igbodalo who was also chased out by security operatives at the INEC office.
APC says, Obaseki has nor right to be in INEC office
Reacting to the incident between Governor Obaseki and DIG Frank Mbah, the National Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Surajudeen Basiru, who spoke to journalists insisted that the governor had no business being in the office of the INEC while election was ongoing or while the collation was going on. Basiru said, “He is not a candidate. He has no reason to be here.”
Basiru maintained that the action of Governor Obaseki was an outright “abuse of power.”
The APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo and his running mate, Dennis Idahosa had led thousands of the party members on a procession to the INEC office where they demanded that the governor leaves or they will all stay put at the INEC office as well.
Pkebeholo and his supporters started shouting, “Obaseki must come out. He is not supposed to be here. He is not an INEC staff. Nigeria Police should not compromise.”
INEC Expresses Concern Over Security
On their part, INEC raised alarm over threats of security and safety of its staff.
Earlier, protesters at intervals tried to gain entrance into the premises of the INEC but they were prevented from entering even when they repeatedly banged on the gate.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that more than 99% of the result of the Edo State governorship election has been uploaded to its viewing portal, IReV.
According to INEC, results from 4455 out of the 4,519 polling units in the state where elections were held have been successfully uploaded on the portal as of 08:40 am on Sunday.
INEC statistics show that Edo State has 2,629,025 registered voters, and 2,249,780 (85.57%) of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) were collected ahead of the election.
and 4,519 polling units in Edo State. Out of this figure,
andidates from various parties, including Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, are competing for the governorship positionhe winner will succeed Governor Godwin Obaseki, who will leave Osadebe House on November 11 after completing two terms in office.
Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha, has reassured the public during an interview on Arise Television that electronic transmission of results would proceed smoothly, barring any network disruptions
“We have trained the operators for the BVAS. They are set. BVAS is to accredit the voters and to know the total number of voters that will vote at that level and that polling unit.
“After that, the voters will start voting. At the end of the day, they will count the results, and it will be uploaded to our IReV,” he
In a statement it issued over the safety concerns, the National Commissioner & Member Information and Voter Education Committee of the commission, Mohammed Haruna stated that “the Commission received a deeply disturbing report from our Resident Electoral Commissioner of a threat to our office in Okpoba Okha Local Government Area yesterday, resulting in a stampede in which one of our officials was injured.
“We are similarly disturbed by the overnight presence and demonstrations by some political actors and their supporters at our State Head Office ahead of the commencement of final collation. These actions are uncalled for. Nobody should disrupt the process at any stage and no one will be allowed to benefit from lawlessness.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the collation of result will proceed as provided by the Electoral Act 2022 and our regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections. There is a mechanism for redressing complaints during collation, including the power to review results declared under duress. The Commission will not hesitate to invoke such powers where necessary.
“Accredited party agents, observers and the media should be granted unimpeded access to all collation centres.
“The Commission calls on the security agencies to continue to maintain the same vigilance and professionalism.
Meanwhile, collation of results have started as INEC announced that it has uploaded 99% of the results from poling units on its result viewing portal, IReV.