Gun democracy was reintroduced to Edo State by armed policemen during the conduct of the September 21st election by moving unit result collation to the INEC state headquarters in Edo, in violation of the 2022 Electoral Act and INEC guidelines concerning the collation of election results. By doing so, the police made the collation of the Edo 2024 election results lack legitimacy. The coalition was unconstitutional and illegitimate. The use of guns by APC thugs to intimidate and threaten Edo voters and the peaceful people of Edo State, especially at collation centres, poses a serious threat to our democracy.
The use of guns by policemen during the Edo September 21, 2024 election to forcefully prevent PDP and other party agents from observing the collation of results was a watershed moment in Nigerian history, where the INEC office in Benin City was used as ward and local government collation centres across Edo State. This is the first time that the state’s INEC office in Edo was used as a ward and local government collation centre in the history of the state. The collation of the results of the Edo 2024 election was worse than the collation of the Edo 2007 election. It revealed the extent to which some people are willing to go to undermine democratic processes and advance their political objectives. The unlawful collation of results didn’t come out of nowhere—the signs of APC’s rising political violence across Edo State were evident, especially the invasion of the Oredo INEC office in Benin City by APC thugs two days before the election.
For a year now, there has been a proliferation of incidents involving thugs in Oredo, harassing and intimidating the people of Edo State involved in our democratic processes, including voters and election workers. It’s not uncommon to read stories about people staking out or patrolling near voting polls on Election Day, armed to the teeth and dressed for war, as witnessed with Governor Obaseki being insulted on September 21st at the INEC office in Benin City.
INEC and the police did not sanction the APC thugs who took over the INEC office in Oredo on September 20th. When a person carrying a gun uses it to intimidate someone, they infringe on that person’s rights. Gun safety laws are crucial to maintaining a safe and free democracy, ensuring that intimidation does not overshadow other constitutional rights.
The Edo 2024 election, characterised by guns and violence, highlights the risks and tragic outcomes when rights are not balanced by responsibilities. It also directs legislators and the public towards policy solutions that will help strengthen our democratic institutions rather than weaken them.
Tensions flared at the Edo State INEC headquarters recently when thugs linked to the APC, led by Jarrett Tenebe, stormed the Commission’s office in Benin to obstruct the inspection of electoral materials from the controversial September 21st Edo governorship election.
The disruption came on the heels of a statement issued by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Edo State, Dr Anugbom Onuoha, which had extended an open invitation to “all political parties and their representatives” to participate in the inspection of the materials—a move seen by many as an attempt to muddy the waters. Despite the fact that the PDP had secured a court order specifically to inspect the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, the REC’s statement allowed the APC to send a delegation of lawyers and youths, led by the APC State Chairman, to interfere in the process.
The situation escalated when INEC’s Head of Legal, Mrs Rita Amadi, announced that the inspection of the BVAS machines was to begin, as mandated by the court order. Jarrett Tenebe, however, forcefully objected, insisting that the inspection should start with the voter register and ballot papers before the BVAS machines could be scrutinised. His demands quickly led to chaos as APC members surrounded Mrs Amadi and began pushing members of the PDP delegation. In the commotion, one of the PDP’s forensic examiners had their phone smashed while police officers looked on without intervening.
The APC Chairman then moved for the adjournment of the inspection exercise until the next day, Thursday, claiming not to be in possession of his copy of the voter register. Mrs Amadi curiously agreed to his demand, despite being reminded by the PDP legal representative that the court order mandated the examination of the voter register used by INEC in the elections, not the one held by political parties.
Read also: INEC’s integrity rating further drops on back of Edo election
It is both pathetic and pitiable to hear that in a contest, someone who claims to have won is still the one making the most noise. The question that comes to mind is: If someone is convinced they actually won a battle, why worry about the other person who deems it fit to question the authenticity of such a victory?
The funniest part of this saga is that the Edo State APC Chairman, Emperor Jarrett Tenebe, likened the Tribunal Court to that of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which has long been viewed as an APC committee in disguise.
Truth be told, we have never seen any case as interesting and informative as this one, in which the APC was left with no other option but to put up a defence, to ascertain if they truly won the election. The lack of material evidence has left them with nothing substantial to present before the court.
To think that preventing the PDP from inspecting the materials from the BVAS would make a difference is one of the miscalculations that has caused the APC more harm than good. Little did they know that the PDP had already approached the Tribunal Court with much evidence, while the APC was busy chasing shadows.
Of course, with the PDP’s team of lawyers, consisting of 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria and fifteen other skilled legal practitioners, it is clear that the PDP is prepared to reclaim its mandate. Suffice it to say that this present case will go down in history alongside many past cases.
Without a doubt, Dr Asue Ighodalo of the PDP won the election, as evidenced by the reports from various polling units that were uploaded from the BVAS to the IREV.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via [email protected]
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