An election observer group under the aegis
of Alliance for Credible Elections, ACE, yesterday, in Abuja, alleged that the
just concluded governorship election in Edo State, where Godwin Obaseki,
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was declared winner, was
heavily rigged.
Meanwhile
in Benin, accredited election observers under the aegis of Public Interest
Association, that monitored governorship election in the state, has called for
the cancellation of the results, saying that it was a charade and does not
reflect the wishes of Edo people.
The
APC has however denied both allegations, insisting that what was announced by
Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was a reflection of the wises
of the people.
ACE
said that the election was rigged scientifically by INEC, at the point of
collation of results but failed to mention which party benefited from the
alleged rigging.
But
the group, which described the development as replica of the elections
conducted in 2003 and 2007, under the administration of ex-President Olusegun
Obasanjo, warned against the repeat of such exercise in the forth coming
governorship election in Ondo State.
At
a press conference, in Abuja, on the report of its observation of Edo State
governorship election, addressed by its acting General Secretary, Mma Odi, the
group said that the Edo election saw a new innovation in rigging, regretting
that the development took the country to the dark days of the military era.
It
alleged that to perfect this act, the electoral umpire deliberately delayed
collation of results of election till 10pm, where the inglorious act was
carried out in the night and advised against playing partisan role in its
responsibilities.
“This
election has brought in new innovations to the rigging of elections. You make
the election to appear very nice during voting and all that but when it
concerns collating, they were highly innovative. Which means we are getting
higher in technological advancement.”
But
reacting to allegation that the Edo governorship election was rigged in favour
of APC, the party’s acting Publicity Secretary, Mr Timi Frank, said it was a
wild allegation without substance.
He
said that the APC won the election as a sign of appreciation for the
development of Edo State for the past eight years by the leadership of Governor
Adams Oshiomhole.
Speaking
on a telephone interview, Mr Frank said that the development in Edo will repeat
itself in the forth coming governorship election in Ondo State given that the
people of the state were disenchanted with the governance of Governor Segun
Mimiko.
Meanwhile
in Benin, accredited election observers under the aegis of Public Interest Association,
that monitored governorship election in the state, has called for the
cancellation of the results, saying that it was a charade and does not reflect
the wishes of Edo people.
Addressing
newsmen in Benin, yesterday, National Coordinator Mrs Esther Bassey, said that
the results released by INEC, was an indication of a commission that has become
partisan and has compromised itself to avoid an inconclusive exercise.
According
to the observers, “We demand for an immediate cancellation of the September 28,
2016 governorship election in Edo State because such charade exercise has
already put the peace and unity of the state in jeopardy as the results
released by a partisan and compromised INEC does not in any way reflect the
wishes of the people of the state.
“The
results released shows that INEC was indeed under pressure to avoid further
inconclusive elections in Nigeria as many inconclusive elections nowadays have
already painted the commission on a negative note before Nigerians, hence the
careful allocation of votes to political parties and declaration of a winner
without consideration of the peoples’ feeling.”
Also
reacting to the report, the APC, through its State Publicity Secretary, Godwin
Erhahon said “The observers need to be abreast with the rules and regulations
governing elections in the country that once results are announced, only the
election petition tribunal can reverse results of the election.
“Even
though the opposition are complaining of rigging, we are also complaining that
the margin with which we defeated them is too narrow because in 2012, we
defeated them with over 70 percent. I advised the aggrieved parties to go to
the tribunal and we shall meet them there.”
Meanwhile,
PDP State Publicity Secretary, Chris Nehikhare, in his reaction, said, “The
statement by the local observers has not only vindicate our stand on the
conduct of the election but also the stand and views of Edo People who actually
voted on the day of the election. They are the ones whose mandate was stolen.
We will get it back for them.’’
“We
had previously alerted the world to the day light robbery supervised by the
security operatives, organised by INEC with Governor Oshiomhole and his APC as
the beneficiaries. We told the world that the details of the results released
by INEC are fake and not the figures announced at various units and as collated
at various wards across the state. The fake results announced by INEC are
entirely a fabrication which does not reflect the true picture of what
transpired during the election.”
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