By Our Reporter
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to refrain from announcing the results of the recent governorship election.
The party called for a review of the results being reported by Local Government Returning Officers and those uploaded on the IREV portal.
PDP chairman Tony Aziegbemi, speaking at a press conference in Benin City, highlighted significant irregularities, including inflated votes for the APC and reduced votes for the PDP during the result collation.
Aziegbemi emphasized that the totals on the EC8C forms should match those uploaded on the IREV portal, asserting that results from the Local Government Area (LGA) returning officers should correspond with these figures.
He noted discrepancies across all 18 local government areas in the state, stating, “Asue will be declared Governor after the anomalies have been resolved.”
He further insisted that INEC should take the opportunity to review the results before making any announcements. “If INEC fails to act, it will undermine the progress made under its current leadership. It is unacceptable to have three different figures from the same election.”
Aziegbemi provided specific examples of discrepancies, including in Ward 9 of Akoko Edo LGA, where the IREV recorded 2,350 votes for the APC, yet 9,104 were reported on the EC8B. For the PDP, 1,359 votes were recorded, but only 633 were reported on the EC8B.
In Ward 6 of the same LGA, where elections were not held, results were still reported. In Egor LGA, the IREV showed the APC with 10,972 votes, while 16,760 were reported on the EC8C. The PDP had 14,485 votes recorded on the IREV, but 14,658 were declared on the EC8C.
Aziegbemi added that the collation in Egor LGA was moved from the designated center to the INEC State Headquarters, where PDP agents were denied access.
He concluded by demanding an immediate re-collation and accurate computation of the results from the affected polling units, in accordance with INEC guidelines.