The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa) has released a post-election analysis of the recent off-cycle governorship election in Edo State, drawing attention to significant electoral issues, including widespread over-voting and alarmingly low voter turnout.
In a report presented on Monday by the CDD-Election Analysis Centre (EAC), chaired by Prof. Adele Jinadu, several challenges were highlighted, which marred the integrity of the election process.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship race. Okpebholo secured 291,667 votes, defeating Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 247,274 votes, and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), who received 22,763 votes.
Despite the results, Prof. Jinadu expressed concerns over the conduct of the election, specifically pointing to issues with the INEC Result Viewing Portal (iReV) and reports of over-voting in several areas.
One notable instance cited was the blurry result uploaded from Ozolua Primary School II in the Abumwenre, Okokhua ward, Ovia North-East Local Government Area. Additionally, reports from polling units in Etsako East, particularly the Weppa Registration Area and Osholo Primary School, revealed cases of over-voting.
Jinadu explained, “At Weppa registration area in Etsako East, the APC received 352 votes, while only 213 voters were accredited. Similarly, at Iddo Sabo registration area, Okpella IV, 263 votes were recorded for APC despite only 250 accredited voters. In another case, 344 votes were recorded for APC in Okpella IV Ward 8, where only 251 voters were accredited.”
He also noted that similar irregularities were recorded in Shade Imioshoga III and Imioko Quarter, where more votes were tallied for both APC and PDP than the number of accredited voters, raising concerns about the accuracy of the results. Jinadu stated that it was unclear whether these inconsistencies were due to over-voting, data errors, or a combination of other factors.
On the subject of voter turnout, Jinadu remarked that despite high rates of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection, actual voter turnout was worryingly low. For instance, in Edo Central, 87% of PVCs were collected, but turnout was just 25%. In Edo North, 94% of PVCs were collected, yet only 33% of voters participated. Edo South saw the lowest turnout, with just 17% despite 82% of PVCs being collected.
The CDD suggested that this low turnout may be linked to the heavy presence of security forces and the militarization of the election, which could have discouraged voters from participating.
Prof. Jinadu also pointed to a concerning discrepancy in Igueben, where 64.1% of voters were accredited, but only 28% ultimately cast their ballots. He called for an investigation into this anomaly to determine whether barriers prevented accredited voters from voting.
