The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the ongoing results of the state governorship election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging widespread irregularities.
So far, the results announced by INEC indicate that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured victories in 10 out of the 18 local government areas, while the PDP has won in six.
In a letter addressed to the Chairman of INEC in Abuja and shared with journalists in Benin on Sunday, the state chairman of the PDP, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, claimed that the votes declared thus far had been manipulated to favor the APC.
The letter, titled “Protest Against Manufactured Vote Entries and Unjust Inflation of APC Votes and Deduction of PDP Votes in the Collation of Results of Edo State Governorship Election Held on 21 September 2024,” called for a review and recomputation of the results in certain areas.
Dr. Aziegbemi specifically pointed out discrepancies in the results from Akoko Edo, Egor, and Etsako West Local Government Areas, alleging that the figures announced by INEC were inconsistent with those uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
According to the PDP, the collated results for Akoko Edo LGA showed that the APC’s actual votes totaled 25,010 based on the IREV data, yet the LGA Returning Officer declared 34,847 votes for the APC. Similarly, for the PDP, the IREV data indicated 18,620 votes, but the official result showed only 15,865 votes.
The letter further highlighted discrepancies in Ward 9 of Akoko Edo LGA, where the IREV reflected 2,350 votes for the APC, but 9,104 votes were declared by INEC. For the PDP, 1,359 votes were recorded on IREV, while only 633 were officially announced. The PDP also alleged that results were returned for several polling units in Ward 6 where elections were not held, raising further doubts about the accuracy of the declared figures.
In Egor LGA, the PDP claimed that the APC was credited with 16,760 votes, while the actual IREV data showed 10,972 votes. For the PDP, 14,485 votes were recorded on IREV, but 14,658 votes were declared. The party also stated that the collation process for Egor LGA was moved to the INEC state headquarters without the participation of the PDP agent.
For Etsako West LGA, the PDP reported that the IREV data indicated 29,858 votes for the APC, yet 32,107 votes were officially declared. For the PDP, the IREV data showed 16,712 votes, but the declared result was 17,483 votes.
“These irregularities are not only glaring but also represent a brazen attempt to distort the true will of the Edo people,” the letter read. “This attempt to rob the PDP of its mandate is an outright embarrassment to the commission.”
The PDP has called on INEC to re-collate and recompute the actual results from the affected polling units in compliance with INEC guidelines and regulations. The party insists that the discrepancies must be addressed to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in Edo State.
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