By; RALPH OKHIRIA, Benin.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) guber candidate in the just concluded Edo poll, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is still fuming and kicking after rejecting the gubernatorial election results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Godwin Obaseki as winner of the gubernatorial election with a total vote of 319,483 as against Pastor Ize-Iyamu’s 253,173 votes.
But the PDP candidate has expressed amazement at the elections results released by INEC, frowning at the way it turned out and said the results did not reflect the figures collated at the polling centres and the wards.
“First, we are in total amazement at the details of the results released by INEC because all of them are fake and not the figures announced at various units and as collated at various wards across the state. The fake results announced by INEC are entirely a fabrication which did not reflect the true picture of what transpired during the election.”
“However, we are not totally surprised because long before now, we had anticipated this and had also warned INEC, security agencies and alerted Edo people at various press conferences and statements, on this situation.”
“Secondly, based on the results emanating from across the state, PDP won the election fair and square, and with a very comfortable margin. So it is with disgust that we have been receiving fake results which were never recorded in either the units or the ward collation centres.
“We know that a fair turnout of voters was recorded state-wide because the weather was very clement and voters were enthusiastic. However, unknown to unsuspecting Edo electorate, INEC had long provided the serial numbers of all result sheets to Adams Oshiomole and his APC government, to print fresh result sheets
“This is not a mere allegation. From the benefit of hindsight, the 18 day period of postponement of the election was to provide enough time for the Governor and his government to print these result sheets and perfect the writing of fake results at the units and at all levels of collation. This scenario is further buttressed by the fact that on Monday, September 26th, 2016, when election materials arrived from the CBN at INEC state office for inspection, agents of the political parties including the APC and PDP were given pre-typed copies of the serial numbers of all result sheets and the ballot papers. This was a clear security breach and an infringement on the credibility of the process, as these are sensitive materials, which should not have been sighted even by INEC officers.
“Everything that has transpired had been carefully designed by the Adams Oshiomole led Edo State government and their cohorts in INEC. They perfected a scheme to void thousands of ballot papers, to enable them to perpetrate their devices. It is widely recorded that over 88% of the voided ballots were PDP votes.
He also cited several cases of the disruption of collation in some areas, including the case of Oredo where he said police, INEC, Department of State Services, and other security operatives watched akimbo as thugs came and packed result sheets.
Also, he described as a travesty of justice, the open inducement of voters with sums of N2,000 to N5,000, saying that the state authorities poured out at between N4 billion and N5 billion to bribe voters.
