Edo Election: An Embarrassment to Nigeria’s Electoral System — PDP Chieftain, Ajibola 

A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and member of the party’s National Campaign Council for the Edo governorship election, Prince Seyi Ajibola, has labeled the outcome of last Saturday’s election in Edo State as an embarrassment to Nigeria’s electoral system.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Ajibola expressed disappointment in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to conduct a credible election in Edo State, despite the substantial resources invested in the commission. He noted that INEC’s inability to effectively deploy technology had undermined the people’s mandate.

Ajibola, who is also the President of Victory Advocates of Nigeria (VAN), a national support group of the PDP, criticized the performance of the INEC Results Viewing (IREV) portal, alleging that it failed to checkmate the manipulation of election results by agents of the ruling party.

“The outcome of the just-concluded Edo State election is another worrisome and embarrassing state of our electoral system. It has proven once again that Nigerians are being toyed with by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the main body empowered to conduct free, fair, and transparent elections to strengthen our democracy,” Ajibola stated. He further criticized INEC for not delivering on the credibility expected, despite the huge investment in the commission.

Ajibola lamented that the IREV portal, originally designed to provide transparency and verify election results from polling units, has become “a mere blog” that contributes little to Nigeria’s electoral advancement. He pointed out that technology should aid the electoral process but noted that, without proper wisdom and prudence, it could lead to further issues in the system.

“Nigerians have continued to lose confidence in our elections because the commission has failed us many times,” he said. “If results uploaded on IREV are not relevant to our laws, and even to INEC itself, why introduce it? PDP and other opposition parties, who do not have federal power to rig elections, have placed their trust in polling unit results uploaded to the IREV portal, but it has proven to be irrelevant at the national and state collation centers and even in the courts.”

Ajibola urged INEC to prove its readiness to handle future elections or for the national assembly members to consider redesigning the commission’s structure. He emphasized the need for INEC to be accountable to Nigerians and answer questions regarding electoral improvements, instead of directing citizens to “go to court.”