The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed Yiaga Africa, an accredited election monitoring observer group at the just concluded Edo State governorship election for allegedly “second-guessing” the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the election results.
The governing party maintained that the observer group cannot usurp the statutory function of INEC for the conduct and declaration of the results of the election.
APC national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, September 24, accused Yiaga Africa of overreaching its election observer mission and constituting itself into a “parallel agency” for declaring election results.
Yiaga Africa had reported “widespread manipulation of results” and discrepancies between its estimates and INEC’s official figures.
Faulting Yiaga Africa, the ruling party said: “Alleging that results were manipulated without hard facts and figures but based on some statistical guesswork is a clear disservice to the electoral process. Yiaga Africa’s report is a travesty, replete with methodological flaws, politicized observations, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies, and called its credibility into question.
“Election observer missions are not election management agencies and cannot usurp INEC’s statutory authority as the sole election management body in Nigeria. Doing so would constitute a clear breach of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“While election observer missions, like Yiaga Africa, are at liberty to share their observations about the election process with INEC and the general public, however, declaring election results or second guessing results declared by INEC in performance of its statutory duties, falls beyond their observation mandate.
“Declaring or second-guessing the Edo state gubernatorial result based on unsubstantiated, unverified, highly questionable statistical parameters created by Yiaga Africa for Yiaga Africa is designed to create unnecessary confusion and the appearance of a parallel election process.”
The party urged the observer group “to refrain from enlisting itself in the season’s annals of infamy, alongside the likes of Governor Godwin Obaseki and his illegal and sinister midnight invasion of INEC’s offices, and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri’s illegal declaration of the bogus election result.
“The election’s outcome is an unequivocal rejection of the Obaseki administration’s bad governance and endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visionary policies, which are transforming Nigeria’s economic landscape, strengthening security, and promoting good governance.”
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The APC then reiterated its appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for ensuring a level playing field, INEC for its professionalism, and law enforcement agencies for their diligence and service during the election.
“By their votes, the good people of Edo State were loud and clear in their choice of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the next Governor to lead the state into a new era of peace, unity, people-centered development and prosperity for all.
“Any disputes, contestations, or questions about the election may now be submitted to the courts for adjudication in line with electoral and constitutional norms and recourse mechanisms,” Morka advised the opposition.