INEC: Overnight presence of politicians at our Edo office disturbing | Nobody should disrupt collation

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is committed to completing the collation of results of the Edo governorship election.

The commission also warned political actors against demonstrating at its offices in the state.

In a statement on Sunday, Mohammed Haruna, national commissioner and member of INEC’s information and voter education committee, said “following the conclusion of voting yesterday, the commission activated the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and uploaded the Polling Unit results in earnest”.

“The same results have also been collated from all the 192 Wards. Similarly, collation has been concluded in most of the Local Government Areas and the designated officials are already at the collation centre in Benin City or on their way,” the statement reads. 

“We are set to commence State-level collation.”

Haruna added that there was a threat to INEC’s office in Okpoba Okha, which led to a stampede and injury to an official.

The commission added that it was disturbed by “the overnight presence and demonstrations by some political actors” at the INEC office in Edo. 

In the wee hours of Sunday, chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) besieged the INEC headquarters in Benin at different times to ventilate complaints about the process.

“The commission received a deeply disturbing report from our Resident Electoral Commissioner of a threat to our office in Okpoba Okha Local Government Area yesterday, resulting in a stampede in which one of our officials was injured,” the statement adds.

“We are similarly disturbed by the overnight presence and  demonstrations by some political actors and their supporters at our State Head Office ahead of the commencement of final collation.

“These actions are uncalled for. Nobody should disrupt the process at any stage and no one will be allowed to benefit from lawlessness.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the collation of result will proceed as provided by the Electoral Act 2022 and our regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections.

“There is a mechanism for redressing complaints during collation, including the power to review results declared under duress. The commission will not hesitate to invoke such powers where necessary.

“Accredited party agents, observers and the media should be granted unimpeded access to all collation centres.

“The commission calls on the security agencies to continue to maintain the same vigilance and professionalism that led to the peaceful conduct of the election as we conclude the process.”