Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has addressed concerns surrounding his visit to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre in Benin City during the early hours of Sunday, September 22, 2024. His unexpected appearance at the centre sparked reactions from different political parties and the public.
Reports indicate that Governor Obaseki arrived at the INEC premises around 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. The visit, which lasted for a few hours, ended with the governor being escorted out of the centre by police officers led by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Frank Mba.
Supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Dennis Idahosa, the running mate of the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, led a protest shortly after Obaseki’s arrival. The protesters gathered outside the INEC office at approximately 3:30 a.m., demanding that the governor leave the premises. Tensions ran high as the APC National Secretary, Surajudeen Basiru, addressed the media, stating that Obaseki had no legitimate reason to be at the collation centre.
In response to these claims, Governor Obaseki held a press conference later in the day at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Situation Room. He clarified the purpose of his visit, explaining that he went to the collation centre after receiving reports that the collation process had come to a halt.
He said, “At about 1 am, I got a report that collation was supposed to have been moved to the INEC head office. I also got reports from our agents that PDP agents were not allowed into the collation centre. At that point in time, I called the REC to find an explanation of what was going on. There was no response.
“Then I went to the INEC office to meet with the REC and to understand what steps INEC was taken to continue the process of collation. When I got in there at about 2:00 am, I did not see any coalition taking place and the REC refused to come out to explain what the situation was.
“Subsequently, the DIG Police Frank Mba came in and had a meeting with me where I explained that if INEC was postponing or stopped the collation process, then as part of their rules, they should inform the public as to what next.
“As of 3:00 a.m., there was no information from INEC as to what was going to what was going on or what was going to happen next. It was subsequently after my insistence and meeting with Mr Frank Mba that INEC now released a statement at about 5:00a.m this morning informing the public that the collation process would start at 10 a.m. this morning.
“So, my go in there was essentially to obtain information from INEC because they had refused to put any information in the public domain as to what was going to happen with the collation process.”
