The examination of materials for the 2024 Edo State gubernatorial election has been postponed indefinitely following sporadic gunfire outbreaks at the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Benin City.
The gunfire, allegedly fired by suspected thugs, followed a violent clash between supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) near the Ikpoba River, about 700 meters from the INEC office. occurred at the same time.
Reports said several people suffered gunshot wounds during the altercation.
The inspection was originally scheduled to begin on Wednesday but was postponed after the APC raised objections to the procedure.
The party argued that the test cannot begin with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which the court granted to the PDP, but should start with the voter register.
The APC claimed that it did not bring a copy of the voter list as it was informed of the testing schedule only minutes before the testing was scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Following the initial postponement, the test was rescheduled for Thursday. But as the process was about to begin, tensions rose again.
The APC, led by Edo State Chairman Jarrett Tenebe, submitted a petition to the INEC Director of Operations alleging that the BVAS machines and voter registers were brought to the INEC complex in government vehicles the previous day.
While the APC insisted that the petition must be addressed before proceeding with the inspection, the PDP representative insisted that the inspection should proceed as planned.
They dismissed APC’s petition as frivolous and without merit, arguing that a valid court order cannot be overturned.
Due to the unresolved dispute between APC and PDP, INEC finally decided to postpone the material inspection indefinitely.
Speaking to reporters after the adjournment, APC advisor Victor Oyongsumua said they would only participate in the inspection if the APC petition was sufficiently taken up.
He said, “This morning (Thursday), the state APC chairman submitted the petition to the state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Onuoha Anugbam, the Commissioner of Police and the State Department in Edo.”
He observed that the BVAS machine and voter register were brought to the INEC facility in an Edo State government vehicle a few days ago.
He said: “We have then raised the objection that the petition must be addressed before proceeding with the examination of the material. INEC’s legal officers have stated that they wish to proceed with the examination without any direction from the REC. I was there.
“We insisted that we hear from the REC and that our petition needed to be addressed before moving forward. During this time, the situation became chaotic and gunshots began to be heard outside the complex. Ta.
“The INEC Director of Operations has since decided to postpone the inspection indefinitely citing safety concerns. He has not yet informed us whether we will return on Friday.”
Reacting, the factional chairman of the Edo Labor Party, Comrade Kelly Ogbaloyi, expressed concern over the atmosphere at the INEC headquarters, saying the atmosphere was not conducive to inspections.
He said: “The situation here is chaotic and it is not the right environment for an exercise of this nature. INEC and political parties need to work together to ensure that the tests are carried out properly. I’m thinking.
“For the electoral process to be fair and acceptable to Edo people, a level playing field must be provided to those contesting the election results.Currently, there is a complete gap between the APC and the PDP. There are significant differences of opinion and it seems unlikely that an inspection will take place.
Attempts were made to get comments from PDP officials regarding the incident, but they were not available at the time of reporting.
