A coalition of election observers, primarily composed of lawyers from the Tap Initiative, has filed a petition with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging serious misconduct during the recent Edo State governorship election.
In a statement at the ICPC headquarters on Tuesday, Tap Initiative’s Executive Director, Martin Obono, called for the arrest and prosecution of senior INEC officials, accusing them of printing duplicate election result sheets (EC8A) and announcing manipulated results that did not align with the actual votes recorded at polling units.
Obono explained that the Tap Initiative and its team of observers accessed the INEC Result Viewer (IReV) during the election, which displays election results directly uploaded from polling units. According to Obono, these IReV results, collected by the observers and signed by Polling Unit Agents and Presiding Officers, matched the data from the field. However, he claims INEC’s final announced results diverged from the original IReV data.
“A comparison of IReV results with the Certified True Copies issued by INEC uncovered discrepancies, including altered vote counts and forged signatures of presiding officers and polling agents,” Obono stated. “Forgery is a crime. It’s unacceptable to falsify results, distort the electorate’s will, and expect Nigerians to remain silent.”
To support their claims, the group presented the names of all INEC ad hoc staff who served as Presiding Officers and urged INEC to invite them for signature verification and clarification on the discrepancies.
Obono emphasized that the level of misconduct warrants international attention, calling for bodies like USAID and the European Union, who have invested millions in Nigeria’s election processes, to examine INEC’s actions.
In response, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, dismissed the accusations, stating that the observers unfairly singled out INEC despite allegations of electoral irregularities from all parties. Oyekanmi highlighted that the election results are already under judicial review, rendering the matter sub judice and beyond the Commission’s further action.
“While I am not privy to the petition’s specifics, it is essential to remember that this issue is currently being reviewed by the election tribunal,” Oyekanmi commented. “Therefore, INEC cannot engage in discussions on matters that are sub judice.”
The controversy over the Edo State governorship election continues as the matter progresses through the courts, with both the observers and INEC maintaining their stances on the alleged irregularities.
