#EdoDecides2024: Results Collation Process Compromised by Manipulation, Intimidation, Yiaga Africa Reports

Yiaga Africa, a prominent civil society organization, has condemned the results of the recent Edo State governorship election, asserting that the process failed to meet integrity standards. This conclusion was drawn from the group’s use of the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology during the election held on Saturday.

In a statement released on Monday, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, and Executive Director Samson Itodo highlighted significant issues with the results collation process. They claimed that the lack of transparency allowed for manipulation of results, undermining the election’s overall credibility.

While Yiaga Africa noted that the accreditation, voting, and counting processes at polling units largely adhered to established procedures, they reported serious breaches during the results collation phase. Allegations included bias from some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and collusion with various actors.

The group deployed 300 stationary observers and 25 roving observers across all 18 local government areas (LGAs) to gather data. The election saw Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) declared the winner, receiving 291,667 votes, followed by Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) with 22,763 votes.

Yiaga Africa reported instances of manipulation and intimidation during the collation in several LGAs, including Ikpoba/Okha and Etsako West. The group emphasized that their estimates, based on official polling unit results, indicated potential inconsistencies in the official results announced by INEC.

Their analysis showed that discrepancies existed between the official results and the expected vote shares, raising concerns of possible electoral fraud. Yiaga Africa’s data suggested that the APC’s results in Oredo and Egor LGAs, as well as the PDP’s in Esan West, did not align with their estimates, signaling potential manipulation at the collation level.

Despite these concerns, Yiaga Africa acknowledged that INEC’s reported turnout of 22.4% and rejected ballots fell within their estimated ranges. They estimated voter turnout between 20.9% and 24.1% and rejected ballots at 2.2% to 3.2%.