Former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka, the founder of a non-profit organisation, Athena Centre, has insisted the September 21 Edo State governorship election should not stand.
Naija News reports that Chidoka, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, indicted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the conduct of the election.
The organisation reviewed the election, which produced the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as governor of the South-South state, claiming that it was compromised.
Recall that Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to beat his closest contender, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 247,274 votes.
However, Chidoka, who presented the Athena Centre’s findings on the Edo State election, stated that there was substantial evidence of systemic rigging.
He said, “The evidence of systemic rigging observed in this election is so substantial that we cannot call the results,” Chidoka said on the programme.
“The evidence of systemic rigging is so substantial that we think that this election should not be allowed to stand. If this stands, then there is no election in 2027.”
Chidoka further stated the Edo State election cannot be deemed credible because it failed to meet basic integrity standards due to substantial interference in the electoral process by the umpire.
He said he is shocked that an institution like INEC would put its reputation at stake for an election.
The former minister alleged a lack of transparency in the election and discrepancies in voter accreditation.
He also alleged incidences of overvoting, manipulation at ward collation centres and that the BVAS accreditation record was not transmitted to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He added that 153 polling units were not accounted for, which means there were no results from those polling units.
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