By Opeoluwani Ogunjimi
The much anticipated 2012 Edo gubernatorial election has come and gone, and the choice of the Edo people, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has been given another chance to lead the people of the State. Although other political parties like PDP, bragged to kick  ACN out of Edo Government House, however, after all said and done, Edoites proved that Oshiomole is really a man of the people.

Oshiomole won hands down, defeating Major-Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (retd) candidate of PDP in all the 18 local government areas of the state. He polled 477,478 votes or 73 per cent of the 647,698 votes cast.

His closest rival, General Airhiavbere polled 144, 235 votes. INEC had declared 630,099 votes valid and invalidated 17,599 votes. Other contestants polled a total of 8,386 votes. A total of 1,651,099 voters registered for the election.

Of course, Edo being what it was in terms of its people not being the ‘too patient’ types, everyone had expected that no matter the number of uniformed and armed men deployed, the probability of outbreaks of violence during the election could not be overruled.

So, the whole nation stood still and expectant, thinking it would be  violence here and there. But perhaps, many were disappointed to hear that the whole election process was peaceful- there were no thuggery, hooliganism and violence, no killings, no fighting, no bombing or bomb scare, all went well.

However, after Oshiomhole’s outstanding victory, the state and the country at large, is left to mourn the losses, especially those lives lost during the course of the election. It appears everyone’s focus is more on the victory than those so-called martyrs and finding a lasting solution to a recurrence. Maybe the general reasoning would be that nothing is special and new about those lost lives, after all in recent times, the nation has recorded more deaths.

Victory should not overshadow the feelings of the families of those policemen and INEC officer who died during the course of that duty.  They were said to have drowned in a boat mishap which happened in the riverine community of Ologbo, in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state. It is indeed another national tragedy which has hit the nation after many occurrences of death tolls in recent times.

According to reports, bodies of two out of three of those policemen, identified as Inspector Aghedo and Constable Odudukudu Greg, were finally recovered. Until their death, both officers were attached to Ologbo Division. While Aghedo is survived by four children: two boys and two girls, Greg left behind a four year old daughter and a wife. But what about the bodies of the third policeman and the INEC officer and of course, that of the canoe driver?

Many wonder why the government has not sat to ponder about what caused the canoe accident? Could it be as a result of the weight of the people including that of  election materials being conveyed by the boat? Or could it be that there was a strong wind which blew against the said boat? And like a typical traditionalist would reason, could it be as a result of some juju meant to disrupt the peaceful flow of the election process? These and many more questions linger in the hearts of Nigerians. And like medicine after death, the Edo State government promised to take care of families of the deceased.

Also, in the boat mishap, some election materials were also reported to have drowned alongside the officials. But until now, accurate estimation of those materials have not been made known to the public and also how those lost materials which would have included the voters’ register, ballot papers and other materials, were replaced to cater for the election.

Some hiccups which led to the election starting behind schedule at some polling centers were also witnessed. Time was lost. Although voters turnout was very impressive, with lengthy queues stretching for hundreds of meters, some still angrily went home without eventually casting their votes.

At some voting centers, some voters were said to have waited for hours. Perhaps unable to stand the stress, some went home frustrated, while others endured until their votes were eventually cast. For this reason, Governor Oshiomole quickly raised what some called a false alarm. He questioned the reason why the election started behind schedule at some polling centers.

Along the line, the governor also discovered that unnamed political party had printed its own ballot papers, prepared to use them for election rigging. With the occurrence of these, Oshiomhole was prompted to say that he would have won the election with a wide margin even though he still won. This means he also mourned the loss of voters who would have voted for him and increase his winning margin.

After the voting on Saturday and the winner was declared, worshipers were said to have deserted churches because of the celebration which rented the air. Thousands of Oshiomhole’s faithfuls flooded the streets in jubilation of his victory. Many were overwhelmed by Oshimhole’s win-all that they preferred to join in the celebration than be in church.

It must have been a very low Sunday for clerics in Benin. Clerics would have probably counted their loses in terms of tithes and numerous offerings which would have ran into thousands and millions. And of course, the sermon of the day would, may be, have been a waste as there were no worshipers to eat the food of the spirit. Even church faithfuls who didn’t catch wind of the enormous celebration  in time and had gone to church, were said to have left to join the jubilation when they noticed the church was almost empty.

Voters at some polling centers also raised alarm over sudden disappearance of their names on the voting lists. This was the case at Garrick Memorial Nursery and Primary School on Ekewan Road, which witnessed loud protests after voters were told to go home on account of their names not being on the voter register. Many at the center complained that they voted at the same spot during the 2011 general election, only to be told their names were not on the register. The problem was eventually resolved by INEC and the party agents.

There was a similar standoff at Ward 12, Unit 17 located at the precincts of the Ministry of Transport, when voters suspected foul play as they talked of a mysterious list of over 400 voters materializing from INEC. The standoff, which lasted for almost two hours, resulted in voters shouting slogans, insisting that any voter register to be used must contain the names and pictures of those coming forward to cast their ballots.

It took the intervention of Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, and other top shots of INEC, before the vigilant voters agreed to use what an INEC official later described as an addendum register, which was compiled from the manual register simultaneously compiled with the electronic one. It took the intervention of party agents at the polling unit to sign an agreement to use the controversial “addendum register.”

According to the Nigerian Civil Society Election Situation Room, it was observed that security agents were absent in a number of polling units, and election officials were not deployed in sufficient numbers in some polling units.

This prompted party agents to step in and assist the election officials in the accreditation of voters at PU 010 EBEN/NB III, Oguola primary school II, Benin City.

Lastly, the Situation Room also noted that there was an unlawful arrest and intimidation of two accredited election observers by military officers in Eghor Local Government Area.