Members of the Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday morning, gathered at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Benin City to protest alleged manipulation in the just-concluded Edo governorship election.
Led by Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, the Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Council, the protesters expressed concerns that the election results were being tampered with in favor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.
Iduoriyekemwen stated, “The PDP was cruising to victory, but the information available to us shows there are plans to juggle the final results, which will not reflect the wishes of the voters.”
He also accused APC leaders, including former governor Adams Oshiomhole and reinstated Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu, of manipulating the voting process. “We have information that the result is being skewed to favor Okpebholo when it is clear our candidate is coasting to victory. We will not accept this, we will contest it,” Iduoriyekemwen said around 2:27 am, leading the protesters to the INEC office.
The group of about 20 protesters was later dispersed by the police after speaking to journalists at the gate of the INEC office.
The protests came amid rising tensions over the election, as INEC faced complaints regarding discrepancies in polling unit results. INEC, in a statement on its official X account late Saturday night, assured the public it would investigate allegations of incorrect figures being entered into result sheets. By that time, INEC had already uploaded 90.33% of the election results to its Result Viewing Portal.
