While many polling units successfully conducted the voting process during the Edo State governorship election on Saturday, at least 22 others recorded cancelled or no voting procedure.
Checks through the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result viewing portal show that the factors responsible for this range from overvoting to emergency, disruption and inability to deploy electoral officers and materials.
Through a random selection process, FIJ examined about 2,000 of the 4,460 results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and found these 22 polling units across different local government areas in the state.
S/NPolling UnitsLGATotal registered votersNo of collected PVCsReason for no/cancelled election1Ikoka 1, Esigie P/School 1Ovia South West908153Declared emergency /Disruption2Abugho/ ID Ologho/ ID Oke/ Idegun Uzogbon Primary School IIEsan South East700246Overvoting3Open space Oreghosa Junction off AraguaOredo715Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption4Ugboshi-Afe by Market Square IIAkoko Edo171Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption5Ese Primary SchoolOwan East504326Overvoting6Amahor, Eguare Primary SchoolIguben741Not availableOvervoting7Imiava Primary School, ImiavaEtsako Central485Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption8Ikoka Primary Health CentreOvia South West820Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption9Iguobazuwa TownhallOvia South West226Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption10Aiguobasimwin, Oha Primary SchoolOvia South West776Not availableOvervoting11Egor Health Center by Useh Road – Open Space IEgor333Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption12Enina Nursery and Primary SchoolEgor893Not availableUnable to deploy men and material13Egoro Naoka Primary SchoolEsan West401Not availableOvervoting14Egor Health Center by Useh Road – Open Space IIEgor824Not availableDeclared emergency/ disruption15Ikpeshi, Udugbureubo Town HallAkoko Edo724Not availableOvervoting16Udochi Oke/ Udochinaowa Village SquareEtsako East325Not availableOvervoting17Obozogbe-Niro Primary School, Ugboko-Niro IIIOrhionmwon411189Overvoting18Primary Health CentreAkoko Edo177Not availableOvervoting19Oteleku Camp HallOrhionmwon219Not availableUnable to deploy men and material20Open Space by Ekhator Street Junction, OkhokhugboEgor789779Declared emergency/ disruption21Open Space by Town Hall, SasaroAkoko Edo120Not availableUnable to deploy men and material22Open Space by Egbabura Akoko Edo136Not availableUnable to deploy men and materialA table showing 22 polling units with no or cancelled election on Saturday. Credit: Abimbola Abatta//FIJ
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ANALYSIS
The data shows that declared emergency/disruption and overvoting account for the major reasons for cancelled and no election in these 22 polling units.
Nine polling units in Ovia South West, Oredo, Akoko Edo, Etsako Central and Egor local government areas experienced emergency situations and disruptions.
Another nine polling units in Esan South East, Owan East, Iguben, Ovia South West, Esan West, Akoko Edo, Etsako East, and Orhionmwon recorded overvoting. Four polling units in Egor, Orhionmwon and Akoko Edo could not vote because of INEC’s inability to deploy officers and materials there.
Declared emergency/disruption and overvoting account for approximately 40.91% each while the inability to deploy men and materials represents 18.18%.
Chart created by Abimbola Abatta using meta-chart.com
To put this in perspective, 10,768 residents of these areas were registered voters. If a quarter of these registered voters, considering the low figure of those who collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), had come out to exercise their rights on Saturday, their votes would either have not counted or they would not have been able to vote.
READ ALSO: No Result Sheet, Vote Buying… Foul Trends From Edo 2024 Election
This data draws attention to the need for INEC to double its efforts in countering overvoting, emergencies and election disruption.
Meanwhile, an alarming rate of vote buying was recorded in the Edo election.
FIJ reported that a coalition of civil society organisations estimated that the price of votes varied between N5,000 and N10,000 per voter across many polling units in the State. Some of the voters were influenced by food items.
The post TABLE: Reasons 22 Polling Units in Edo Had No Election appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.