Edo Poll: Yiaga Africa Rejects Results, Cites Manipulation

Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers of the 2024 Edo State governorship election, has raised concerns over the credibility of the poll, claiming it failed the integrity test due to widespread manipulation of results.

In a post-election statement co-signed by Dr Aisha Abdullahi, Chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission, and Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, the organizations cited significant irregularities during the election process.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner, with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who garnered 22,763 votes.

Yiaga Africa, however, stated that it deployed its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology in the election, using 300 stationary and 25 roving observers to cover a representative sample of polling units across all 18 local government areas (LGAs).

The organization noted lapses in the election’s integrity despite some compliance in material deployment.

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“The PRVT methodology 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,” the statement read.

“While material deployment and some processes complied with standards, the manipulation of results and disruptions during the ward and local government collation processes in key areas, including Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor, and Oredo LGAs, severely undermined the credibility of the election.”

Yiaga Africa pointed to incidents where INEC officials, observers, and party agents faced intimidation, and results were collated contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.

The organization’s statistical analysis found discrepancies between its PRVT estimates and INEC’s official results.

For instance, in Oredo and Egor LGAs, the results for the APC were inconsistent with PRVT estimates, and in Esan West LGA, the PDP’s results also fell outside the expected range. Similarly, the Labour Party’s results in Oredo LGA were flagged for being outside PRVT’s projected figures.

“These inconsistencies indicate that the results were altered during collation. The actions of some biased INEC officials and interference by security personnel contributed to these manipulations, “Yiaga Africa said.

The report also highlighted acts of violence, voter intimidation, and disruptions by political thugs during both voting and the results collation process. Such incidents, according to Yiaga Africa, further undermined the integrity of the election.

In addition to the manipulation concerns, Yiaga Africa noted that voter turnout was disappointingly low, with only 22.4% of registered voters participating, despite high PVC collection rates. This turnout was lower than the 27% observed in the 2020 Edo governorship election.

“Yiaga Africa commends the resilience of voters who braved the rain and stayed back to fulfil their civic duties, despite the delays in voting,” the statement concluded.

An INEC official who spoke on the grounds of anonymity responded to Yiaga Africa’s report, stating that the observer group’s findings cannot be used as the sole basis to invalidate the election.

The official noted that mechanisms exist for aggrieved parties to seek redress through legal channels while reiterating a previous statement by INEC that the commission would review all complaints received and take appropriate action.