Thorough Check 0f Collation result sheets show PDP won the election by 57% - Generates Protests

Thorough Check 0f Collation result sheets show PDP won the election by 57%  - Generates Protests

Mr Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Party (APC) has been declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)after the governorship elections in Edo state and this has generated unrest and angry reactions in the state.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the result and has said it will review the situation and decide on the next line of action, litigation likely.

Meanwhile examination of the Collation of result sheets show PDP won the election by 57%, causing more protests to spring up across Edo state a thorough collation of the results from the polling units, wards and local government areas and many startling revelations have been revealed.

It is clear from the volume of overwhelming evidence that the result that was announced by the returning officer was not a true reflection of the result that was collated from the voting points, as reflected in the result sheets.

Too many irregularities were observed, including but not limited to voter inducement with money which is a serious ground to annul an election, over voting, declaring results where elections didn’t hold, stuffing of ballot boxes and yet results were declared, inexplicable cancellation, etc.

For example also, the Young Democratic Party (YDP) had a candidate in the election but their name and logo was missing in the ballot papers. Surprisingly though, INEC allocated votes to them in the final result. Many observers wonder where the votes emanated from for a party that did not have their name or logo on the ballot paper, raising suspicion that the result announced was manufactured elsewhere not from the collation centres.

Another example is the APGA candidate having won his unit in the elections arrived at the collation centre to find he had been given only 2 votes for his unit which comprised at least 20 members of his family.

The electoral law provides a 21 day window for an aggrieved party or candidate to approach the tribunal. Feelers is that the PDP will appeal the decision of INEC.

It is gathered that the PDP has substantially collated results which presently show a 57% lead over the APC in the total votes cast. But INEC had declared that the APC won with a contested 51% of the votes cast.

Also critical is the commentary running within the circles of independent observers, both domestic and international, who have all condemned the process and called for an outright cancellation of the polls.

In a leaked conversation of the state chairman of the APC, Anselm Ojezua, it is reported that he said that they are confident about also wining at the tribunal because they have corrupted the tribunal judges from the first tribunal to the Supreme Court.

The following is ascribed to the APC chairman, Anselm Ojezua, by a media 

“Kpelebe (Ize Iyamu) can go to any court he wishes, but I can assure you that all the tribunal judges, from first instance to Appeal, and even the Supreme court, are all our people. Jagaban has all the judges in his pocket and he has promised Obaseki he will see him through. Oshiomole can confirm this too. He has also told me that we need not fear. The tribunal has been constituted and the secretary is in Benin already. Let us all go about our duties and enjoy our victory. Like the election, we know the verdict already”.

It is not yet clear how this assertion will unfold against the massive rejection of the polls by Edo people, but if the judiciary becomes compromised, like INEC has been accused of, it will only amount to another travesty of justice only akin to the election itself.

The people of Edo state and the PDP have been in the streets protesting the perceived injustice done to them. There will be a big protests tomorrow Friday 7th of October 2016 and it is believed that the PDP candidate will attend. There have been protests in Ikpoba Okha where 8 communities where election did not hold as results declared for the APC nearly 10,000 votes. There has been protests in Benin City led by Centre for Patriotic Leadership Initiative (CPLI). There were protests in Orhionmwon, protests in Auchi and Uromi. More are expected in the coming days now that the PDP has discovered that it actually won the election with 57% of votes cast.

Given the regular protests being carried out by the PDP supporters on the streets of Benin, it is interesting how the epic tribunal battle will play out in the coming weeks, after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Godwin Obaseki winner of the September 28th 2016 Governorship election.

The election was reportedly fraught with malpractices like ballot snatching, card reader failures and misapplication of laws, cash inducements, thuggery and security lapses.

Worse still, according to observers and critics, was the decision of INEC to suspend collation in the evening after the election, until the following day.

This remains a sore point in the final declaration of results by the Electoral officers for the various local government areas, many of whom nervously delivered their recorded results.

The PDP in various statements has noted with dismay, the discrepancies in the declared results and the physically collated unit results which its agents carried out with sophisticated equipment and manually.

Several attempts to speak with the INEC Chairman have been fruitless as he is said to be on vacation. However, our sources maintain that the INEC delegation was led by Amina Zakari, who is said to be President Buhari’s neice.

The President has however congratulated Godwin Obaseki, a move never seen before since he was sworn in on May 29th 2015. He has not officially congratulated Govs Wike and Dickson of Rivers and Bayelsa States, who belong to the opposition PDP.

Godwin Obaseki is yet to receive his certificate of return, leading many to suspect that INEC may be up to something unusual.