Yiaga Africa Alleges Manipulation in Edo Governorship Election Results, Questions INEC’s Credibility

Yiaga Africa, one of the accredited observers for the 2024 Edo State governorship election, has raised concerns about the credibility of the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The election saw the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, declared the winner with 291,667 votes.

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 organization alleged that the final results were manipulated.

Yiaga’s report highlighted disruptions and manipulations during the collation process at ward and local government levels in areas like Ikpoba/Okha, Etsako West, Egor, and Oredo Local Government Areas (LGAs). Intimidation of INEC officials, observers, and party agents was also reported.

Yiaga Africa deployed its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) methodology, which has been used in two presidential elections and 16 off-cycle governorship elections, involving 300 stationary and 25 roving observers. While the methodology confirmed some compliance, it flagged significant inconsistencies in the announced results.

The organization specifically pointed to irregularities in vote counts in Oredo, Egor, and Esan West LGAs, stating that the official results did not align with its PRVT estimates, indicating potential manipulation during the collation process.

Additionally, Yiaga criticized the actions of biased INEC officials and security personnel for interfering with the collation process, undermining the election’s credibility.

While commending voters for their resilience, Yiaga Africa also noted the low voter turnout of 22.4%, which was lower than the 27% recorded in the 2020 election, despite high PVC collection rates.

The organization concluded that the inconsistencies and manipulations in the collation process raised significant concerns about the integrity of the election results.