Edo Election Update: Drama as PDP Campaign Council DG Leads Protest to INEC, Details Emerge

• The Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Council, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, led a protest at INEC headquarters in Benin City
• Iduoriyekemwen claimed that while the PDP candidate was leading in the polls, there were attempts to manipulate the final results
• INEC has uploaded 97% of election results, however, the collation process has been delayed, and security remains tight at the INEC headquarters

Benin City, Edo State - In a dramatic turn of events during the 2024 Edo State Governorship election, the Director General of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Council, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, led a protest on Sunday morning to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Benin City.

The protest, which began at approximately 2:27 am, was organized by members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who voiced concerns over what they claimed were efforts to skew the election results in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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PDP accuses INEC of manipulation

During the protest, Iduoriyekemwen expressed the PDP's discontent with the election process, alleging that the party's candidate was leading in the polls but that there were attempts to manipulate the final results, Daily Trust reported.

Iduoriyekemwen stated:

"We have information that the result is being skewed to favour Monday Okpehbolo when it is clear that our candidate is coasting to victory. We will not accept this; we will contest it."

The protest occurred as journalists and party agents were inside the INEC Conference Hall, awaiting the commencement of the results collation.

The protesters were eventually dispersed by the police after making their grievances known to the media through the barricade.

INEC is yet to commence results collation

Despite the tension, as of the time of filing this report, INEC had uploaded 97 per cent of election results onto its Results Viewing (IReV) portal, The Punch reported.

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A preliminary analysis of these results indicates that the APC candidate is leading in the Edo North Senatorial District, while the PDP candidate is ahead in the Edo South Senatorial District.

Security around the INEC headquarters remains tight, with heavy deployment of officers.

Journalists and observers continue to wait at the venue, but there has been no official communication from INEC regarding the delay in commencing the collation of the final results.

Source: Legit.ng