By Prisca Sam-Duru 

The Edo State off-cycle governorship election took place as scheduled on Saturday, September 21, 2024.

The Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Monday Okpebholo winner of the election.

As it has become customary in Nigerian elections, INEC’s declaration has been marked by controversies. Many observers and Civil Society groups have come out to voice out certain irregularities that made the process fall short of a free and fair election.

So far, INEC and security agencies have received more knocks than kudos for not being patriotic in discharging their duties. This article captures some of the reactions from observers, and stakeholders.

I’m mourning murder of democracy in Edo — Prince Odigie

Deputy Director General of the Edo People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Campaign Council, Prince Emmanuel Odigie, described the election as a sham and a murder of democracy in Edo State.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Prince Odigie recalled saying prior to the election that APC had a master plan to rig the election.

“You can see I’m in black. I am mourning the blatant rape and murder of our democracy in Edo. I have been mocked and laughed at because I came on national TV to say that President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was my political mentor, a front line activist, the pro democracy activist, the frontline pro-democracy activist, the leader of progressive democrats in Nigeria.

“I am ashamed, I am sad, I am pained that under his watch, such a sham with so much disgraceful impunity and such criminality, would take place in Nigeria, in the 21st century. The president is the Chairman of ECOWAS. Is he aware of what transpired in Edo?

“I saw a brutal force in Edo; the entire APC leadership- governors, coming in with thousands of security personnel which were not accredited by the IGP to participate in the election. Some governors came with 3,000 policemen from their various states to brutalise Edo people. It was horror, it was terrible. The experience; we’ve never seen anything like this in this state. It’s the worst ever off-cycle election to be conducted in Nigeria.

“We saw the election conducted under the leadership of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan which comrade Adams Oshiomole was a beneficiary of that credible, free and fair elections. Today, the same Adams Oshiomole is celebrating a sham; the disgraceful impunity at which they subverted the will of the good people of Edo. We saw an election conducted under president Buhari. The so-called former dictator allowed the will of the people to prevail. How come under the leadership of a pro-democracy activist who I, prince Emmanuel see as his political mentor allowed such blatant rape of our democracy?

“The fight against Asue Ighodalo was a vendetta against Godwin Obaseki. The political class who felt that the man refused to open the vault of Edo to satisfy their insatiable whims became his enemies and vowed that they would do whatever it takes to ensure that they disgrace him out of office. It was not about the will of the people. It was not about the choice of Edo people. This is not about strengthening democracy or our institutions or making life better for the people. It is a vendetta war which is naturally unnecessary. I’ve had conversations with who is who in APC.

“I was there; I knew from day one how they blackmailed the president with his promise. In my presence, I was on the front line when the president said, ‘vote for me I will give you Edo’. I was shocked and taken aback by that; how can you give Edo in a democracy. What happens to the will of the people? What happens to elections, to voting, competence, betterment and development of our society? We saw how the senate president boasted in Calabar and how Senator Monday Okpebholo knelt down openly appreciating him for taking over Edo.

“I engaged with over 30 civil societies accredited to monitor the election. They came together with evidence that the election was rigged.”

Odigie at a time became so emotional that he wept on television.

Edo election results were altered – YIAGA Africa

Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers of the election in Edo State discredited the election saying that it lacked integrity due to widespread irregularities including alteration of results by the collation officers.

According to reports, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, Dr Aisha Abdullahi, and Executive Director, Yiaga Africa Samson Itodo, in a joint statement “particularly called out rogue officials of INEC for blame over alterations of figures.”

Yiaga Africa which said it deployed the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology for the Edo election, involving 300 stationary and 25 roving observers, covering a representative sample of polling units (PUs) across all 18 LGAs, faulted the conduct of the poll and declared results as lacking integrity.

The statement reads in part, “Yiaga Africa has successfully deployed this methodology in two Presidential elections and 16 off-cycle governorship elections. While there were some level of compliance in areas of material deployment and other processes, however, the incidents of results manipulation and disruptions during ward and local government collation in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor and Oredo LGAs, including intimidation of INEC officials, observers and party agents and the collation of results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, severely undermine the credibility of the election results.

“Yiaga Africa condemns the actions of some biased INEC officials who altered figures during collation including the actions of some security officials who interfered with the collation process.”

Voters were induced to vote — Oshoma

Lawyer and human rights activist, Liborous Oshoma who spoke to Arise TV during the week, said that it was impossible to claim that voters used their free will because they were “impoverished” and induced.

His words, “I was listening to Philip Shaibu saying that his votes were organic and I’m laughing because we know in that election most of the votes were not organic.

“They were votes purchased by two major political parties. It was obvious that the gladiators shared money; they bought votes right in the presence of security agencies that looked the other way while party agents were busy. It was a free day.

“In Nigeria of today, you dangle N20,000 before somebody looking for urgent N2,000, certainly, he will sell his conscience.

“In Edo North, for example, some party agents abandoned their party because of money. You see where politicians will weaponise poverty.”

Observers, media witnessed peaceful election- Oshiomhole

Former Edo state Governor and Senator representing Edo Senatorial District, comrade Adams Oshiomhole who expressed joy for his party taking back Edo state, asked the people to forgive him for bringing governor Godwin Obaseki to them, adding, “I understand the needs of the people.

“I know what the state was and what it is today. Not a few people believe that I should be blamed for governor Obaseki’s obvious failure and very awful performance. Edo people have spoken by voting.”

Comrade Oshomole who spoke during an interview with Channels Television criticised Obaseki for visiting INEC office in Benin and for saying prior to the election that it was a ‘do-or-die affair’, saying, “Now the people have done it, I guess he’s politically dead. I know so. The verdict is out.”

Reacting to reports by YIAGA Africa and others who stated that the election lacked integrity, Oshomole said, Seun the TV host was a ‘victim of misinformation’ adding that observers and media “witnessed a peaceful process. I even saw EFCC around, maybe they were looking for those buying votes.”

Obviously downplaying the concerns raised about the integrity of the outcome of the election, Oshomole credited their win to his party’s strategy and reserved approach of governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo.

“As you can see, our strategy worked which is why the people voted.”

It was transaction galore, jamboree and bazaar of votes — Kadiri

Deputy Governorship candidate of the Labour party, Yusuf Asamah Kadiri, SAN, agrees with Oshoma and gives a vivid picture of how voters and party agents were bought.

He said, “What happened on Saturday was a sheer display of political electoral merchandise. It was transaction galore, a jamboree, a bazaar of commodisation and commercialisation of votes principally by the agents of both the ruling party at the federal government level and the ruling party at the state government level.”

Kadiri continues, “It was as if they were bidding and the electorate who found themselves very gullible, fell for it, lost their conscience. Apparently due to the high degree of poverty and hunger in the land, they couldn’t resist the amounts offered.

“Where one party offered 5,000, the other one was offering 10,000 and when the other one matched the other one, the ruling party at the federal level most of their agents increased their offer to as much as fifteen, twenty and thirty thousand naira.

“They did this even to the point of buying over other parties’ agents with  as much as fifty to one hundred thousand naira. It was all over the entire state. I witnessed it in my polling unit and a couple of other polling units I visited.”

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