Politics
Gunmen Disrupt Ekiti Gubernatorial Election, Cart Away Ballot Boxes
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
The last may not have been heard of the Saturday, June 19, 2022, gubernatorial elections held in Ekiti State, though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) Biodun Oyebanji winner.
The Ekiti South West Local Government Area Collation Officer, Prof. Gbolagade Jonathan, told the media that there were issues of ballot snatching at Ward 6, Units 5 and 7.
He pointed this anomaly out, while presenting his reports at the collating centre.
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According to him, they were about sorting the results when gunmen stormed the affected units and started shooting sporadically, which made people run for safety, while the gunmen carted away the ballot boxes in the process.
Prof. Jonathan explained that the two affected units had a total numbers of accredited voters of 266 and 128 respectively.
The coming days would show what the opposition party candidates make of it, particularly Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who scored 82, 211, to come second in the contest.
Tension is building in Edo State as supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) protested outside the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin City, rejecting the partial results of the governorship election released so far.
INEC has announced results from 16 of the state’s 18 local government areas.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) leads with victories in 10 local governments, while the PDP has won in six.
The protesters, chanting and waving leaves, accused INEC of tampering with the results, claiming discrepancies between the official figures and those from polling units.
One protester, identified as Frank, alleged that the results had been manipulated on INEC’s online portal. He called on President Bola Tinubu to investigate the matter.
He said, ” What we are saying is that we will not allow anyone to tamper with the wish of the Edo people. People have voted for our candidate (Ighodalo), and some people want to use the power from above to turn the results upside down. We won’t accept it. No, we won’t.
“We have the authentic results with us, and the ones they announced are different. That means someone has tampered with the results. We will not take it. We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in this matter. Some people should not burn our state.”
The political fortunes in the Edo State off season 2024 gubernatorial election continue to swing, with the reinstated Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu and former Governor, Adam Oshiomhole, delivering the Estako West Local Government Area (LGA) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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Results in Etsako West LG which is home to both Shaibu and Oshiomhole saw APC’s governorship candidate, Monday Okpebholo, polling 32,107 to defeat his Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) counterpart, Asue Ighodalo, who got 17,483.
Recall that Shaibu rejoined the APC in the buildup to the election after a long battle between him and his boss, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who anointed Ighodalo ahead of him.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner in two local government areas of Edo State.
In Esan North-East, Professor Faruq Adamu Kuta, the Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, announced that PDP candidate Asue Ighodalo received 12,522 votes, defeating Monday Okpebholo of the APC, who garnered 10,648 votes.
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The election saw a total of 24,311 votes cast, with 674 rejected.
Esan North-East LGA Results:
– Registered Voters: 106,280
– Accredited Voters: 24,430
– PDP: 12,522
– APC: 10,648
– LP: 194
– Valid Votes: 23,637
In Ovia South-West, the PDP also emerged victorious, winning by a narrow margin of 110 votes. Ighodalo received 10,260 votes, while Okpebholo secured 10,150 votes.
The total votes cast in this local government area were 22,796, with 1,086 votes rejected.
Ovia South-West LGA Results:
– Registered Voters: 112,091
– Accredited Voters: 23,196
– PDP: 10,260
– APC: 10,150
– LP: 849
– Valid Votes: 21,710
The results were part of the ongoing collation process led by INEC.
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