• Party supporters stage protest at INEC headquarters in Benin

From Tony Osauzo and Paul Osuyi, Benin

The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, rejected the result of Wednesday’s governorship election, alleging that the result was predetermined by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in collusion with security agencies and the Edo State government.
The State Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih and the party’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, while rejecting the result at a press conference in Benin City, alleged that the results were manipulated at the INEC state headquarters.
“INEC started the process of announcing the results and at some point, they suspended the announcement yesterday and promised to continue the announcement today.
“From the time we started getting feedbacks from our agents and independent observers, we have been taking time to look at the results side by side with what INEC has so far announced. We have observed that there is a wide difference between the figures from our party agents and the independent observers with what INEC is announcing at their headquarters in Benin City,” Orbih said.
Chief Orbih, who spoke while announcement of the election  results were on, said the results announced by INEC confirmed the position of the party as earlier expressed by the state PDP’s Publicity Secretary, that INEC and the APC were planning to write results ahead of the governorship election.
“From the results INEC is announcing, it has confirmed the position of the party as earlier expressed by the state PDP’s Publicity Secretary, during a press briefing 48 hours to the election, that concrete evidence and reliable information reaching the party revealed that the APC had written the result ahead of the election.
“From the results issued by INEC presiding officers at the various polling units and wards, if you put the results together, PDP is clearly ahead of the APC in all the 18 Local Government Councils. When you calculate the final results, there is no way we will not win this election with a minimum if 30,000 votes,” he said, adding “we are going to reject the results currently announced by INEC officials at its headquarters in Benin City.”
The PDP chairman lamented that even areas that were PDP stronghold were cancelled by the electoral umpire on the ground that card readers in those areas failed.
“Looking at what they have come out to announce, even areas where we won overwhelmingly, INEC has come out to cancel most of the votes, saying that the card readers did not work,” he said.
The PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu described the results as ‘sham’ and said they did not reflect the huge turnout of votes in the state, particularly, as he raised concerns over the alleged cancellation of areas allegedly won overwhelming by the PDP.
He said the result was unacceptable and a rape on democracy.
Meanwhile, supporters of PDP, yesterday, staged a protest at the state headquarters of INEC on Aduwawa Road in Benin City.
The protesters, who carried placards with various inscriptions, insisted that the PDP won the election in all the 18 council areas of the state. They alleged that the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole stormed INEC at the wee hours of yesterday to induce the electoral body to change the figures.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards were “INEC took bribe from APC, PDP won the 2016 election,’ INEC give us our actual results,’ ‘INEC give PDP their true result’ among others.
The protesters, mostly women and youths, called the governor and his party, the APC, unprintable names and threatened fire and brimstone ‘if the PDP is shortchanged’.
One of the protesters, Mrs. Lindsay Tes Sorae, from Ovia North-East council area, said the people will not accept the results released by the electoral umpire, alleging that the governor gave orders to INEC to change the figures.
Also, Princess Eba from Ikpoba-Okha council area told newsmen that they were in high spirit early yesterday morning only for their hopes to be dashed when the results from the various council areas were announced.
“If APC wins squarely, we will have no problem with that. But, let INEC announce the right results of which PDP won in almost all the council areas.
“As at yesterday evening, we were already jubilating because PDP was leading, but what we are hearing now is different from the votes that were generated from the polling units,” Eba said.
As at the time of filing this report, the protesters were still milling around INEC office which was heavily guarded by gun-wielding security operatives who demonstrated a very high level of civility while the implored the protesters to remain peaceful.