Yiaga Africa, an accredited observer of the Edo State off-cycle governorship election, has raised concerns about the integrity of the poll, alleging widespread manipulation.
Despite the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner, Yiaga Africa expressed reservations about the credibility of the election process.
The organization deployed its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology, which revealed significant lapses in the election process.
“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,” said Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission.
Yiaga Africa’s findings indicated inconsistencies and disparities in the official results announced by INEC. “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,” said Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa.
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The organization condemned the actions of some biased INEC officials and security officials who interfered with the collation process.
Yiaga Africa also noted that the voter turnout was low, with only 22.4% of voters participating, despite high PVC collection rates.
However, an INEC official said Yiaga Africa’s statement cannot be used as a basis to judge the election, as there are mechanisms for aggrieved parties and other legal channels to explore.
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