Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), which monitored the Edo State governorship election on Saturday, have issued a damning review of the exercise, declaring that the results from several polling units were altered at coalition centers.

The civil society coalition, the Situation Room, said the conduct of the election lacked credibility. Similarly, Yiaga Africa, which said it deployed the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology for the Edo election, involving 300 stationary and 25 roving observers, covering a representative sample of polling units (PUs) across all 18 local government areas of the state, faulted the conduct of the poll and the declared results as lacking integrity.

Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers of Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election, discredited the election on account of widespread irregularities that included alteration of results by the collation officers.

The CSOs called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review the results based on what was uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, within the time stipulated by section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.

The calls for review came as the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, hinted that the party would go to court to challenge the declaration of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the poll and governor-elect of Edo State.

National Chairman of PDP, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, gave the hint while addressing a press conference at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. Damagum expressed confidence in the judiciary, saying the integrity of the third arm of government would be put to the test before Nigerians. He insisted that the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, won the election. The national chairman said he doubted if there was a country called Nigeria. Ighodalo described Saturday, September 21 as one of the darkest moments in Nigeria’s history.

The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, said what happened in Edo State could not be described as an election. The governorship candidate of LP in the election, Mr. Olumide Akpata, spoke similarly. Akpata declared that the poll’s outcome lacked integrity because the process was characterized by vote buying and other transactional methods that were antithetical to democratic norms.

Sharing a similar thought, the governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP), Dr. Bright Enabulele, alleged a compromise on the side of INEC, describing it as the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history.

Addressing a press conference at the national secretariat of PDP, Damagum said the Edo State governorship election was massively rigged, as the results released were different from the ones on the IReV portal.

Damagum said, “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 Edo 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.”

The PDP national chairman called on Nigerians and lovers of democracy all over the world to stand up in solidarity with the people of Edo State in rejecting “this assault on the democratic rights of the people as witnessed in the Edo State Governorship election”.

He insisted, “The people of Edo State clearly chose Dr. Asue Ighodalo as the next governor of their state and only their will as expressed at the polling units must be allowed to stand.”

Damagum charged the people of Edo State to remain resolute and undeterred, saying PDP would take sure and firm steps to retrieve the mandate with every means legal and available in a democracy.

He stated, “From unfolding political events in the country, the latest, being the brazen rigging of the Saturday, September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in connivance with government-controlled agencies, it is clear that our democracy is under threat.

“As you know and widely reported in all segments of the media, the 2024 Edo State governorship election was barefacedly compromised by the APC in collusion with unpatriotic security operatives and heavily procured officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who viciously trampled on the votes of the people in defiance of the law and total disregard to the Sovereign Will of the people of Edo State.”

Damagum said PDP had on several occasions alerted about the sinister plot by APC to subvert the election, the roles allegedly played by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 7, Benneth Igwe, and Edo State Commissioner of Police, Nemo Edwin-Iwo, as well as the appointment of a known APC apologist and supporter, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, as Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

According to the PDP national chairman, “Several demands by our party for the redeployment of these officials as well as the release of all arrested PDP members and supporters fell on deaf ears and tend to validate PDP’s suspicion of a top-level conspiracy to rig the Edo State governorship election.

“Nigerians and the world watched in horror as the APC-compromised security operatives and thugs unleashed terror, harassed, arrested and detained PDP members and supporters, foisted siege mentality on the people and paved the way for APC agents and procured INEC officials to manipulate the ballot process, substitute genuine results from the polling units with fictitious figures and transferred the victory clearly won by our candidate, Asue Ighodalo, to the defeated APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo.

“As Nigerians already know, despite the violence, intimidation and manipulations by the APC, results obtained from the polling units show that our candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, clearly won the election before the figures were altered at the state collation exercise in favour of the defeated APC candidate.”

When asked if PDP still had confidence in the judiciary, Damagum said, “In this election, we shall still put to test once again the level of the preparedness of the judiciary to do justice where it is required.

“So, we cannot overrule a situation whereby justice will be dispensed, but the most important thing is that we shall put them to more scrutiny before the eyes of Nigerians because they say that when the judicial system does now work, then you don’t have a country. I don’t know if we will still have a country.”

Ondo State chapter of PDP said the results of Saturday’s election represented another rape on democracy. PDP in the state, whose governorship poll is scheduled for November 16, said Nigerians were not fooled by the officially declared results by INEC. It insisted that PDP won.

The Ondo State PDP governorship campaign organisation, in a statement by its Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, said it was disappointing that INEC could disregard the electoral law by shifting the collation of votes in the designated local government collation centres to its state headquarters in Benin City.

The statement said, “The Edo State governorship election results represent another rape on democracy in Nigeria, and for the umpteenth time, we declare that this is condemnable, as it betrays a total disregard for the electoral desires of the people as validly expressed through the ballot.

“Nigerians are not fooled by the officially declared result by INEC, they know that PDP won that election and this is a shame on those who sit atop our affairs.”

Asue Ighodalo, in a statement personally signed, wrote, “First, in all things, we must give thanks to God. We give thanks to God for the gift of life, of health, and for the love you all have shown me. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who has stood by us on this incredible journey.

“I would like to particularly thank the good people of Edo State who defied the rains, intimidation, threats of violence, harassment, arrests and financial inducements to cast their votes for us, overwhelmingly, last Saturday, 21st September 2024. You are the true heroes of our democracy, and your sacrifices for a better Edo State will never be forgotten.

“My aspiration was not borne out of the love for power but a genuine desire to serve the people and create a Pathway to Prosperity for All in Edo State. I travelled through every ward and every local government area, sharing this message and engaging in meaningful conversations with you.

“To all our beloved supporters, thank you for believing in this vision, for your countless hours of dedication, and for every conversation you had with people about this cause.

“Together, we ran a great campaign, and your overwhelming support was evident in the ballots before our progress was unjustly halted on September 21st, 2024 by people who do not mean well for you or for our state.”

Ighodalo said, “That day will forever be etched in our history as one of our darkest moments, marked by the brazen theft of our mandate and the shameful subversion of the will of the people.

“Yet, in the face of this challenge, we must not be discouraged. The illusory triumph of evil over good is only temporary. Our journey towards a prosperous Edo State does not end here; it is just beginning.

“Let us remain engaged, committed, and united in our collective resolve to create a Pathway to Prosperity for All in Edo State. You did not abandon me during our campaign; and I promise you that as we face a daunting and uncertain future together, I will not abandon you.”

YIAGA Africa, in a joint statement co-signed by Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, and Samson Itodo, Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, particularly called out rogue officials of INEC for blame over the manipulations.

The group particularly mentioned Ikpboa Okha, Egor, Oredo and Etsako West as among the most prominent local government areas where collation officers altered the figures.

Yiaga Africa said it deployed the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology for the Edo election, which involved 300 stationary and 25 roving observers, covering a representative sample of polling units (PUs) across all 18 local government areas of the state. It faulted the conduct of the election and the declared results as lacking integrity.

The statement said, “The PRVT enables Yiaga Africa to independently assess the quality of Election Day processes and verify the accuracy of the official election results as announced by INEC.

“Yiaga Africa observers also deployed to the State and LGA results collation centres to observe the process, ensuring timely and accurate reporting of the election process.

“Yiaga Africa has successfully deployed this methodology in two presidential elections and 16 off-cycle governorship elections…

“While there were some level of compliance in areas of material deployment and other processes, however, 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.

“Based on reports received from the sampled PUs, 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 APC received 51.1 per cent of the votes, PDP 43.3 per cent of the votes, and the LP garnered 4.0 per cent of the votes. Based on reports from 287 of 300 (96 per cent) sampled PUs, 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. 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 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.”

The report condemned the acts of violence and disruption of voting and results collation process by political thugs and hoodlums, particularly violence directed at voters and election officials. It said the development undermined the integrity of the elections.