The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress(APC) on Monday traded words over an alleged plot to tamper with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.
The PDP accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of deliberately delaying the release of the electoral materials to its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who is poised to challenge the outcome of the poll in court.
This was as the APC also led a protest to the INEC office in Benin, warning the electoral commission against colluding with the PDP to tamper with the electoral materials.
The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, claimed that compromised INEC officials and the All Progressives Congress were attempting to manipulate data in the BVAS machines and election materials to benefit the defeated APC candidate.
Edo state Gov-elect, Monday Okpebholo, won with 291,667 votes, defeating PDP’s Asue Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes.
Speaking in Abuja, on Monday, the party, in a statement by Ologunagba, said, “The Peoples Democratic Party strongly condemns the reported refusal by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Edo State to grant the PDP and its candidate, Dr Asue Ighodalo, access to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines and other materials used in the September 21, 2024 Edo State governorship election against the order of court.
“Our party also alerts the public of how compromised INEC officials used the ploy of waiting for ‘directives from above’ to allegedly allow thugs recruited by the All Progressives Congress and some unscrupulous police operatives to invade the INEC office in Edo State, to cause confusion and frustrate the PDP from accessing these sensitive materials.
