ECONOMIC activities are gradually returning to Edo State after the Saturday, September 21, governorship election.
On Sunday, many residents were in church for service, as against the restriction of human and vehicular movement imposed on the state by the Nigeria Police Force on Saturday because of the poll.
The ICIR reports that economic activities are picking up across the state, including Auchi, Ekpoma, Uromi, Irrua, and Benin City.
While the state residents and other Nigerians are anxiously waiting for the poll results, whose collation began about 11:45 am on Sunday at the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City, this organisation reported how the state Governor Godwin Obaseki stormed the collation centre in Benin City Sunday morning.
The governor, accompanied by officials from his administration and security operatives, walked directly into the office of the resident electoral commissioner (REC) for a meeting that lasted for over an hour.
His presence at the INEC office raised concerns about potential interference in the collation process, with several supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) protesting at the INEC office against the visit.
The protesters, led by Dennis Idahosa, running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, demanded that Obaseki leave the INEC premises.
They argued that it was inappropriate for the governor to meet with INEC officials during the election.
Consequently, the governor left the INEC office around 5 am.
Obaseki later told journalists that he was at the office because all efforts he made to reach the INEC resident electoral commission in the state, Anugbum Onuoha, were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, moving through some locations in Benin and Esan Central, The ICIR reporter observed how residents are resuming their daily activities, with many heading to their morning church service.
There was heavy rain in the morning, as seen on election day, and some markets in Benin City were crowded with traders and buyers.
While businesses are opening and public transport is gradually finding its way to the streets, there is still a visible security operatives presence in some parts of the city.
In the Esan district highway to Benin city, there were many security checkpoints, including men of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force, mounting roadblocks to check vehicles.
At the state INEC head office, The ICIR noted the presence of scores of security personnel, mainly from the military and police, blocking the area, about 200 meters from the entrance.
Although the resident electoral commissioner in a statement earlier said collation would begin by 10 am, as of 11:30 am, journalists and party agents are still awaiting the officials to start the process.
The ICIR reports that seventeen political parties competed for votes in the poll, with three candidates – PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, APC’s Monday Okpebholo, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) – leading the race.
There are approximately 2.63 million registered voters but only 2.25 million of these collected their permanent voter’s card (PVC), making them eligible to vote, according to data from INEC.
By this, the election will be determined by only 85.57 per cent of registered voters in 4,519 polling units across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M