By Joshua Suberu Mohammed
It has come to light that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) manipulated the election results of the just concluded Edo governorship election.
Evidence from INEC’s own INEC Result Viewing (IREV) platform, designed to ensure transparency, shows discrepancies between the actual results recorded on the platform and the final results announced by the electoral commission.
The discrepancies have solidified the verdict of various election observers that the results were manipulated in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
The IREV platform, a tool introduced by INEC to ensure real-time access to election results at the polling unit level, is meant to foster transparency and accountability.
However, in the case of the Edo governorship election, the platform appears to have been abandoned or manipulated to benefit the APC.
A detailed analysis of the results posted on the IREV platform as of September 21, 2024, reveals glaring irregularities compared with the official results announced by INEC on September 22, 2024.
Across several local government areas (LGAs) in Edo State, there were widespread reductions in the PDP’s vote totals and corresponding increases in the APC’s votes.
In Akoko-Edo, IREV results showed that the PDP had secured 20,101 votes. However, when INEC announced the results the following day, the PDP’s votes had been significantly reduced by 21.07%, leaving them with only 15,865 votes.
In contrast, the APC’s votes, initially recorded at 22,963 on the IREV platform, were increased by 34.10%, increasing to a whopping 34,847 votes in the final announcement.
This pattern of irregularities was repeated across multiple LGAs. In Egor LGA, the PDP’s votes on IREV were recorded as 27,621, but this was slashed by 46.93% to just 14,658 in the official announcement.
Meanwhile, the APC’s votes, originally 10,202, were inflated by 39.13% to 16,760. In Esan Central LGA, the PDP’s original votes of 10,794 were reduced by 20.16% to 8,618, while the APC’s votes jumped by 38.86% from 6,719 to 10,990.
These manipulations were not isolated incidents. The trend of decreasing PDP votes and inflating APC votes persisted across other LGAs, such as Esan Southeast, Esan West, Igueben, Orhionmwon, and Ovia North East, pointing to a coordinated effort to alter the election’s outcome.
The IREV platform was widely regarded as a breakthrough in ensuring election transparency, allowing citizens and political parties to track election results in real time.
However, the abandonment of IREV in the Edo election raises troubling questions. PDP officials and civil society groups have accused INEC of deliberately sidelining the platform in favour of manual result manipulation at the collation centres under pressure from the APC.
A senior official within INEC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration over the role of political appointees in the electoral process, stating:
“Many of us in the commission were disappointed with how things turned out. The IREV platform showed what happened at the polling units. But at the state collation centre, there was a lot of interference from top officials, particularly the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).”
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha, has been at the centre of the allegations. According to multiple sources within INEC, Onuoha oversaw the manipulation of the results in favour of the APC.
The REC reportedly threatened INEC staff with arrests by the Department of State Security (DSS) and termination of employment if they did not cooperate in changing the results to secure a victory for Senator Okpebholo.
One INEC staff member, who requested anonymity due to fear of retribution, said:
“We were ordered to reduce the votes for PDP and increase APC’s numbers. Those who resisted were threatened with DSS arrest and losing their jobs. It was clear that there was a plan to manipulate the results in favour of APC.”
While the initial IREV results pointed to a PDP victory, with the party securing substantial leads in several key areas, the final results declared by INEC shifted the balance in favour of the APC.
For instance, in Esan Southeast, the PDP’s original votes of 10,565 were increased to 14,199, but the APC’s votes were reduced by 9.99% from 9,237 to 8,398 in what appears to be a strategic adjustment.
In Ovia South West, the PDP’s numbers were slashed by 18.95% from 12,659 to 10,260, while the APC’s votes remained unchanged.
In total, the PDP’s vote tally dropped by 37.73%, from 314,676 votes recorded on IREV to just 195,954 votes in the final announcement. In contrast, the APC’s vote total increased by 8.58%, rising from 223,619 votes to 244,606 votes.
Civil society organizations have also expressed their concerns, with the Election Integrity Coalition calling for the immediate resignation of Onuoha and a thorough audit of the election process. Dr. Nneoma Adigwe, head of the coalition, said: “INEC’s abandonment of the IREV platform is deeply troubling.
“It was designed to ensure transparency, yet in this election, it has been ignored to manipulate the outcome. We call on the relevant authorities to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
