Edo Election Tension: Tribunal Reviews BVAS Data Amid Claims of Massive Over-Voting

The September 21, 2024, election, won by Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is being challenged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which secured a subpoena to access the BVAS machines after INEC initially declined to release them voluntarily.

The Tribunal is now examining data retrieved from the BVAS devices, with initial findings suggesting discrepancies between the number of accredited voters and the declared results in several polling units.

The PDP has accused INEC of over-voting, claiming the results announced exceeded the number of accredited voters in multiple locations.

During Thursday’s hearing, a collation agent from Ward 9 in Akoko Edo testified that while voting went smoothly across the 13 polling units, the results uploaded to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IREV) did not match those collated at the ward level. He further alleged that duplicate results presented at the collation center were inconsistent with polling unit records, prompting him to refuse to sign the result sheet.

Similarly, a witness from Oredo Local Government testified that the results declared by INEC in Ward 1 were at odds with both the polling unit records and IREV data.

The Tribunal has admitted certified true copies (CTCs) of documents submitted by the PDP, pointing to potential irregularities in the official results.

The presentation of BVAS machines as evidence is a critical development in the case, as the logs provide a reliable record of accredited voters at each polling unit, offering an essential basis for scrutinizing the election results.