Edo election marred by excessive interference, claims Accord Party candidate
The Accord Party candidate in the just-concluded governorship election in Edo State, Dr Bright Onabulele, has rejected the result of the election conducted on Saturday.
Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress polled 291,667 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party’s Asue Ighodalo, who came second with 247,274 votes, and the Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who emerged third with 22,763 votes.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Onabulele admitted that while the election was peaceful, it was far from credible.
He said, “I don’t have any problem with the winner of the election. I have problems with the way the election was conducted, particularly with the process. The provisions of our elections are designed to ensure that the voices of the people are protected.
“The electoral process determines whether there will be corruption in the land. If the process is not streamlined and not correctly followed, we end up electing someone who shouldn’t be there.
“There is a difference between peace and credibility. Just because the election was peaceful does not mean it was credible. A lot went wrong during the election due to human interference. We are in the 21st century, and such things should not be happening.”
Onabulele called for less human interference in the electoral process to make elections more credible in the country.
He said, “The process should be protected from human interference. When there is too much interference, we elect the wrong people, inviting corruption. Bad governance starts with how we elect our leaders, and last Saturday showed me that we have not progressed as a country in terms of election conduct.
“There was a system in place to ensure that this election would not require human interference — BVAS and IREV. I had a chance to be in line and was profiled. There was proper identification; my photograph was taken, and I went into the booth, picked up the slip, thumbprinted it, and dropped it in the box. But when the result from my local government was released, where I also voted, I was recorded as having zero votes. What happened after I voted? That’s the question INEC must answer.
“I see a lot of disparity in this election, and I believe INEC should be held accountable. This election is about the future, not just today. History will judge us. I’m not here because of a power struggle. I’m here today to say that if I fail, let me fail correctly, and if I win, let me win correctly.”
