The fallout from the September 21 Edo governorship election has taken a dramatic turn, with former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of masterminding an elaborate scheme to rig the poll in favor of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Chidoka labeled the election “a sham” and provided data he claims proves widespread manipulation orchestrated at INEC’s highest levels.
Chidoka revealed shocking discrepancies in the election results, alleging that INEC inflated the number of accredited voters by over 100,000 in 798 polling units. “Presiding officers recorded 580,000 accredited voters, yet INEC’s backend magically produced 687,000. This wasn’t an accident; it was deliberate tampering,” he said. According to him, PDP votes were slashed by 11,665 during collation, while 32,284 votes were illegally added to APC’s tally.
Even more damning, Chidoka said, were the inconsistencies between INEC’s certified results and the data uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV). “Someone at INEC printed fake result sheets and wrote the outcome they wanted. This isn’t just incompetence; it’s fraud on a massive scale,” he declared.
The former minister claimed that when invalid votes and manipulations were removed, PDP candidate Barr. Asue Ighodalo emerged as the rightful winner. However, he refused to officially recognize the result, citing the sheer scale of rigging. “What happened in Edo wasn’t an election—it was a travesty. If this stands, there’s no point in having elections in 2027.”
In a dramatic twist, Chidoka announced his resignation from the PDP, saying he wants to focus fully on fighting for electoral reform without being tied to partisan politics. “Nothing else is as important to me right now as the defense of our democracy,” he stated.
Chidoka’s revelations have sparked outrage and intensified calls for the judiciary to intervene. “The courts must act. INEC has betrayed public trust, and our democracy is on life support,” he warned. The question now is whether Nigeria’s judiciary will step in to salvage the integrity of the electoral process—or allow this “stolen election” to stand.
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