The 2024 Edo State governorship election which took place on September 21 has remained a hot topic days after the exercise and may continue to be discussed into the coming weeks and months. This is as a result of the controversy surrounding the process and eventual outcome of the election.
Whereas the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, winner of the election, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, have disagreed with that outcome and may be heading to the court any time from now. Meanwhile, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Olumide Akpata, said his legal team is studying some relevant documents from the election.
The election was characterised by a plethora of issues which threatened to mar an otherwise peaceful and orderly exercise, from late arrival of INEC officials and materials to security concerns, voter apathy, and allegations of vote buying, falsification of results, and intimidation of party agents.
Voter apathy was a critical factor that greeted the election, with low voter turnout due to hunger, economic hardship, fears of violence and intimidation as stated by some voters and party agents on the field on the election day. This could have allowed political factions with control over violent groups to influence the election’s outcome.
Similarly, there are allegations of inconsistencies in the official results that were declared by INEC and the results uploaded on the iREV from critical swing local government areas such Oredo, Ikpoba Okha, Egor, and Etsako West. Aggrieved parties say these alleged discrepancies point to result manipulation and have undermined trust in the commission and the electoral process.
Ahead of the election, the PDP had refused to sign the peace accord, which has become a tradition in elections in the country, citing intimidation and arrest of its leaders and members by the police in connivance with the APC over violence that ensued at Airport Road in Benin City which led to the death of a policeman attached to the APC candidate who is now the governor-elect.
These issues have cast a shadow over the credibility of the election and highlight the need for urgent reforms to ensure the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.
Although some stakeholders have stated that the election was largely peaceful, with few incidents of violence in some areas which occurred during collation of results in Ikpoba Okha, Oredo and gunshots in Owan West LGA, overall, these issues have raised significant concerns about the credibility and transparency of the electoral process in Edo State.
Stakeholders’ views on the election
Since the electoral exercise and declaration of results, stakeholders and pundits have been reacting to the outcome of the election and what it portends for Nigeria’s democracy.
Yiaga Africa, one of the observers for the 2024 Edo Governorship Election,said that the election failed the electoral integrity test as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials compromised the collation process.
The non-profit organization disclosed this in its Post Election Statement on the September 21, 2024 Edo State Governorship Election signed by the Chair, Edo 2024 Election Mission, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, and Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo.
Yiaga Africa stated that “the incidents of results manipulation and disruptions during ward and local government collation in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor and Oredo LGAs, including intimidation of INEC officials, observers, and party agents and the collation of results contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines, severely undermine the credibility of the election results”.
On the conduct of the election by INEC, Yiaga Africa said: “Based on reports received from the sampled polling units, Yiaga Africa can project the expected vote shares for each party within a narrow margin. However, Yiaga Africa is only able to verify the election outcome if it falls within its estimated margins. If the official results do not fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated ranges, then the results may have been manipulated.
“According to INEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC) received 51.1% of the votes, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 43.3% of the votes, and the Labour Party garnered 4.0% of the votes. Based on reports from 287 of 300 (96%) sampled polling units, Yiaga Africa’s statistical analysis shows inconsistencies in the official results announced by INEC. For instance, the official results announced by INEC for APC in Oredo and Egor LGAs fall outside the PRVT estimate. In Esan West LGA, the official results for PDP fall outside the PRVT estimates.”
It added: “Also, in Oredo LGA, the official results as announced for LP fall outside the PRVT estimates. These inconsistencies with Yiaga Africa’s PRVT estimates indicate that the results were altered at the level of collation. The disparities between the official results released by INEC and Yiaga Africa’s PRVT estimates indicate manipulation of results during the collation process. Yiaga Africa strongly condemns the actions of some biased INEC officials who altered figures during collation including the actions of some security officials who interfered with the collation process.
“Yiaga Africa notes that the cases of disruption in Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor, and Oredo LGAs in the course of collation created opportunities for election manipulation, raising significant concerns about the credibility and integrity of the results collation process.”
Yiaga Africa called for the immediate investigation and prosecution of polling officials and collation officers who were engaged in results manipulation and flagrant violations of the guidelines on results collation.
“Yiaga Africa calls on INEC to urgently clarify the inconsistencies in some of the results, especially election results from Oredo, Egor, Esan West and LGAs. INEC should issue detailed guidelines for exercising its powers to review declarations and returns made contrary to provisions of the Electoral Act and regulations and guidelines. This should include procedures for receiving complaints, timeframe, format, and who is eligible to submit complaints,” it said.
Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, criticised the election, describing it as a “blatant example of ‘state capture’” that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process.
In a statement released on Monday via X following the weekend’s events, Obi expressed concern over the integrity of the electoral system.
“What happened over the weekend in the name of election in Edo State does not in any way represent the democratic process we chose as a method of electing our political leadership,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor warned that such flawed leadership recruitment processes could have dire consequences for the nation.
On its part, the PDP rejected the outcome of the governorship election, alleging “brazen rigging of poll” and threatening to head to court to seek redress.
The Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagum, at a press conference on Monday, said the party will explore all legal and democratic means to retrieve “the stolen mandate” of its candidate, Asue Ighodalo.
“The PDP charges the people of Edo State to remain resolute and undeterred as our Party takes sure and firm steps to retrieve the mandate with every means legal and available in a democracy,” Damagum said some hours after INEC declared the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, winner of the election.
“The PDP therefore unequivocally rejects the final result of the Edo State Governorship election as declared by INEC as it did not meet the minimum standard for democracy having not reflected the expressed will and aspiration of the people in line with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Guidelines for State Governorship election.
“The PDP demands that INEC within the time stipulated by Section 65 of the Electoral Act, 2022 review the Edo State governorship election and announce results only as obtained from the genuine votes cast at the Polling Units,” he said.
But the United States of America adjudged the election to be largely peaceful.
In a statement, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, commended the people of Edo State for organising themselves in an orderly manner. He also called for calm following the announcement of the result.
“The U.S. Mission in Nigeria commends the people of Edo State for the widely peaceful conduct of gubernatorial elections on September 21 and reiterates calls for calm following the announcement of results,” the statement said.
In the same vein, President Bola Tinubu, in his congratulatory message to the governor-elect, Senator Monday Okepbholo, said the victory testifies to the people’s support for the ruling party, “its progressive ideals and economic re-engineering programme”.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Sunday, said the President commended INEC for conducting a free and fair election while asking those that are aggrieved to seek legal redress.
“The victory testified to the people’s support for the ruling party, its progressive ideals, its economic re-engineering programme and its commitment to improving the lives of Nigerians,” he said.
Final thoughts
The Edo State gubernatorial election has highlighted the persistent challenges facing Nigeria’s democratic process. Despite progress made, issues such as security concerns, electoral integrity, lack of transparency, and voter apathy continue to undermine the credibility of elections.
Nigeria as a country must consider and implement electronic voting going forward because the 2023 general election and the just-concluded Edo governorship election once again showed the vulnerability of the INEC to deliver free, fair and credible elections.
Electoral offenders should be prosecuted according to the law and voter education should be intensified by both political parties and INEC to curtail incidence of voter apathy and low voter turnout.
The Edo State gubernatorial election serves as a reminder that Nigeria’s democratic journey is ongoing. Addressing the challenges exposed during this election will be crucial for strengthening the country’s democratic institutions and ensuring the integrity of future elections. By learning from the Edo State gubernatorial election, Nigeria can move closer to consolidating its democracy and ensuring free, fair, and credible elections.