Obono dropped a bombshell on Friday, accusing Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of not just being complicit but actively rigging the 2024 Edo State governorship election.
A human rights lawyer, Martins Obono, has revealed significant irregularities in the recent Edo election.
Obono, who is the Executive Director of the TAP Initiative for Citizens Development, said their investigation suggests extensive voter manipulation.
Obono dropped a bombshell on Friday, accusing Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of not just being complicit but actively rigging the 2024 Edo State governorship election.
On Arise Television’s The Morning Show, Obono revealed what he called “damning, incontrovertible evidence” of INEC’s alleged role in a conspiracy that threatens to upend Nigeria’s electoral system.
Obono’s explosive claims didn’t stop there. He also presented documents showing discrepancies between certified true copies (CTCs) of polling unit results issued by INEC and the identical documents uploaded to INEC’s iREV result portal.
According to Obono, these discrepancies suggest that INEC produced a shadow set of result sheets to substitute the real ones.
Armed with stacks of documents, Obono revealed that a comparison of the CTCs and iREV records showed that INEC seemingly produced a shadow set of result sheets to replace the authentic ones.
The TAP Initiative even enlisted a world-renowned forensic handwriting expert to analyze the CTCs, and the findings were stunning.
The expert confirmed that several CTCs were filled out by a single individual, implying widespread forgery.
These duplicate documents bear identical serial numbers, but while the iREV results are signed by party agents, the CTCs remain mysteriously unsigned.
“We need to really go into what happens in INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission),” he said.
“When we compared the CTCs from INEC with iREV’s records, we uncovered something staggering,” he said. “It appears INEC produced a shadow set of result sheets to substitute the real ones. They bear identical serial numbers, yet the iREV results are signed by party agents while the CTCs are mysteriously unsigned.”
He accused INEC of engaging in voter fraud by producing a second set of results that contradicted originals on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) portal.
“What you obtain from IReV has agents’ signatures and the same serial number, but the votes differ,” said Obono.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) further alleged “institutional rigging perpetrated by INEC,” which they say threatens democracy if unchecked.
The forensic examination TAP commissioned revealed handwriting irregularities in these documents, indicating that a single individual may have forged multiple results.
“We’ve identified over 136 irregularities in one local government alone, including over-voting, result cancellations, and mutilation,” Obono explained.
TAP also collected video evidence of alleged vote buying, an issue they claim involved multiple parties.
“We’ve been monitoring elections since 2003. This is the first time we’ve seen the electoral umpire itself as the main perpetrator,” he said.
Obono said that INEC should be held accountable, emphasising that TAP will submit their findings to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for prosecution.
“Electoral offenders are not held accountable in this country, and that’s why we continue this cycle,” he said.
In light of these findings, TAP calls on Nigerians to support efforts to enforce electoral integrity, warning that without action, “we are doomed as a nation.”
The statement added, “Shockingly Tap found that INEC allegedly engaged in voter fraud by printing a second set of result sheets replacing the originals visible on IReV and agent copies with forgeries bearing the same serial numbers but different outcomes.
“It shows that the irregularities range from over voting so these are from the various wards.”
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