Yiaga Africa, a prominent civil society organization, has raised concerns over the integrity of the Edo governorship election held on September 21, 2024. In a detailed report, the organization highlighted significant inconsistencies in the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging manipulation in the collation process.
INEC had announced Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election. However, Yiaga Africa, through a statement co-signed by its Executive Director, Samson Itodo, and Aisha Abdullahi, chairperson of its 2024 Edo election mission, pointed out that the election collation process was marred by irregularities that indicate vote tampering.
According to Yiaga Africa, its Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) system, which monitors and analyzes election data, revealed discrepancies between its statistical projections and the official results from key local government areas (LGAs) such as Oredo, Egor, and Esan West. "The official results announced by INEC for APC in Oredo and Egor LGAs fall outside the PRVT estimate," the statement read.
In Esan West LGA, similar issues were found with the results for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as they also deviated from Yiaga’s projections. The organization noted that these discrepancies suggest that the results were altered during the collation process.
Yiaga Africa further criticized the actions of some INEC officials and security personnel for allegedly interfering with the collation process, especially in LGAs like Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor, and Oredo. These actions, according to the organization, created opportunities for result manipulation, thereby undermining the credibility of the election.
The organization, however, acknowledged that the turnout and rejected ballots figures released by INEC were consistent with its PVT estimates. Yiaga Africa reported a voter turnout of 22.4%, which was a decline from the 27% recorded in the 2020 governorship election. Similarly, rejected ballots were estimated to be between 2.2% and 3.2%.
Despite the issues raised, Yiaga Africa commended the resilience of voters who braved difficult conditions, including rainfall and voting delays, to exercise their civic rights.
In its recommendations, Yiaga Africa called for an immediate investigation into the alleged manipulation, urging INEC to clarify the inconsistencies in the results from Oredo, Egor, and Esan West LGAs. The organization also emphasized the need to prosecute election officials involved in altering the results.
This election has reignited concerns about the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process, with Yiaga Africa calling for stronger measures to ensure transparency and accountability in future elections.
