Four months after the September 21, 2024 Edo state governorship election, investigation by fij.ng has exposed the sordid and brazen manipulations of the exercise, thus putting a lie to the results returned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and claims by the Nigeria Police Force that the exercise was peaceful.
The investigation published on Monday January 27, titled “INVESTIGATION: How Edo Gov Election Was Rigged For APC By Design”, was authored by Daniel Ojukwu. The over 5,800 words publication detailed how the election results were manipulated, and deliberately falsified with the intention to favour the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo. The report not only indicted the INEC, it also exposed in a profound manner, how the umpire breached its own rules, left vividly tell tales of manipulations and grossly failed to properly cover its tract.
In indicting the Police, the report quoted Frank Mba, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) charged with security during the election, as saying the conduct of the election was peaceful and there were no incidents of violence or manipulation. But FIJ reported that it found contradictory evidence that the conduct was flawed before, during and after election day.
“Throughout this election, there was no single threat recorded,” Mba said during a press briefing on September 23. “The election was violent-free. There was no recorded incident of the kidnapping, assault, or molestation of any INEC staff, other persons, or other stakeholders involved in the elections.
“There was no recorded incident of arson, no recorded incident of serious assault on the police or members of other law enforcement agencies. We were able to keep the land, the air, and the waterway safe. Citizens were able to go out and cast their votes with minimal incidents.”
“This account was inaccurate,” the report stated.
The investigation, complete with graphics, videos, tables and all, exposed the unprecedented manipulations of over voting, inflation of figure in favour of APC, and failure to do the right thing by the electoral umpire in Etsako West, Egor and Ikphoba Okha local government areas among others.
The detailed report is coming at a time when the final results are already being contested in the court by seven aggrieved political parties
The full report can be accessed at http://fij.ng/article/investigation-how-edo-gov-election-was-rigged-for-apc-by-design/
