Controversy has erupted following the announcement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, as the winner of the Edo governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Okpebholo victorious on September 22, 2024.
However, results posted on INEC’s Independent Results Viewing (IREV) portal tell a different story, showing that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asue Ighodalo, secured more votes.
Asue Ighodalo’s PDP, according to IREV data, garnered 314,676 votes across the state’s 18 local government areas.
Meanwhile, the APC’s Okpebholo, whose results were initially lower, reportedly surged by 8.58% to 244,606 votes in the final tally released by INEC.
The data has sparked widespread outrage and calls for transparency in the election process, with many questioning the integrity of the official results.
The discrepancies between the IREV portal and the officially announced results have been highlighted across multiple local governments. The anomalies were consistent across several LGAs, leading many to question the legitimacy of the final results.
The discrepancies have led to a growing public outcry, with many Nigerians taking to social media to express their dissatisfaction using the hashtag #DeclareIREVResults.
Social media has been flooded with posts demanding that INEC address the inconsistencies and align the official results with the data displayed on the IREV portal.
“Democracy demands transparency! INEC’s IREV data clearly shows PDP won, so why the change?” tweeted one user.
Another tweet read, “The numbers don’t lie. PDP had 314,676 votes on IREV, yet INEC reduced them drastically. #DeclareIREVResults.”
“The IREV portal was designed to promote transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process, but these discrepancies undermine that goal,” said one election observer.
“INEC must clarify why there’s such a wide gap between the posted IREV results and the declared results,” he added.
Some have called for the judiciary to step in, demanding that the courts review the election and, if necessary, declare the IREV results as the authentic reflection of the people’s will.
