A group of civil society organisations has accused Edo State of manipulating the results of the governorship election held on September 21.
The National Electoral Commission, INEC, announced Okpebholo as the winner, despite persistent accusations from opposition parties, especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that the poll was tainted by anomalies.
At a news conference on Wednesday, however, the coalition of election watchdog organisations claimed that the Edo election demonstrated INEC’s incapacity to hold legitimate elections in the nation.
Speaking to reporters, Victor Kalu, the coalition’s convener and leader of the Centre for Development and Transformation Initiative, stated that Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, needs to be dismissed in order to make room for a competent successor.
“Our research demonstrates that INEC’s announcement of the election results was anything but free and transparent.
This flagrant disrespect for electoral laws worries us. This creates a risky precedent that could endanger Nigerian democracy itself if it is not handled.
We urge the judiciary to never forget that they are our democracy’s last chance, not just for the average person. In Edo, justice must be perceived as having been served.
The group also issued a warning that Nigerians would lose faith in the electoral process if the purported fault in the Edo poll was not fixed.
