Edo guber: PDP Challenges Governorship Election Results, Cites Alleged Irregularities and Files Petition with INEC
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the results of the Edo State governorship election held on Saturday, September 21, 2024, citing alleged irregularities and breaches of due process during the collation of results. The PDP’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, secured 247,274 votes, placing second in the election. In response, the party has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding that all results be returned to their lawful collation venues at the wards and local government levels.
In a petition signed by Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, Edo State PDP Chairman, the party’s collation agent, Dr. Iyoha Tony, accused INEC of violating the electoral process in the collation of the results. The petition, issued on Sunday, claims that INEC officials in Benin-City have disregarded the stipulated procedures for conducting the governorship election.
The PDP highlighted issues such as the widespread failure to use the mandatory BVAS Machine for voter accreditation, particularly in Edo North, and the refusal of electoral officers to properly collate results according to INEC’s regulations. The party also alleged that INEC officials illegally moved the collation of ward and local government results from designated venues to the INEC State Headquarters, facilitating potential manipulation of the results.
Citing provisions from the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022, the PDP emphasized that collation and declaration of results should only occur at designated locations. The party also noted discrepancies between the number of accredited voters on the BVAS Machine and the results returned from Estako West and Estako East LGAs, which it claims is a clear violation of INEC’s guidelines.
The PDP called for an investigation into the BVAS Machine in the affected areas and demanded that collation be returned to lawful venues. Meanwhile, INEC declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the election on Sunday night.
