TENSIONS heightened Sunday morning as Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin City, where the collation of governorship election results will take place.
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.
Obaseki’s sudden visit came as results from wards were being collated at the local government and senatorial levels.
His presence at the INEC office has 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.
The protesters at intervals tried to gain entrance into the premises of INEC but they were prevented from entering even when they repeatedly banged on the gate.
Consequently, the governor left the INEC office around 5 am.
The ICIR reports that although INEC is yet to commence collation of the results at its state headquarters in Benin, the commission has uploaded over 90 per cent of the results of the governorship election it conducted on Saturday, September, 21, on its result viewing portal (IReV).
As of 10 pm on Saturday, results of 4,316 out of the 4,519 polling units had been successfully transmitted on the portal.
The ICIR reported that voting commenced late in some local government areas of the state following heavy downpours in the early hours and other undisclosed reasons that caused INEC officials to arrive late at polling centres.
Collation to resume by 10:am
Meanwhile, The ICIR reports that the collation of the election would begin at 10 am on Sunday.
The resident electoral commissioner, Anugbum Onuoha, in a statement, said collation would begin by 10 am.
“This is to inform the general public, political stakeholders and observers that the collation of results for the ongoing Edo State governorship election will resume today (Sunday) 22nd September, 2024 at 10:00 am.”
“The collation process is being conducted transparently and in accordance with the extant laws and guidelines of the Independent National. Electoral Commission (INEC). We appreciate the patience and cooperation of the parties as we strive to ensure a credible and accurate outcome of this important election.
“We urge all stakeholders to maintain peace and order as we conclude the collation process. INEC remains committed to delivering a free, fair and transparent Election in Edo State,” the statement said.
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