Fears of large-scale election rigging are growing ahead of Saturday’s bye-elections in Edo and Kaduna States, as opposition parties and election observers have accused the ruling party of planning to manipulate the process.
In a statement on Friday, the Coalition of Observer Groups in Nigeria said it had received what it called credible reports of plans to tamper with the Edo Central Senatorial and Ovia Federal Constituency elections.
The coalition’s chairman, Comrade Simon Diogu, alleged that tactics similar to those reported during the September 2024 Edo governorship election could be repeated including writing results before voting, locking opposition agents out of collation centres, and using security agencies to intimidate voters.
“The September election left a crisis of confidence because allegations of duplicate results and questionable collation were never addressed by INEC,” Diogu said.
“If such acts happen again, public trust in elections will sink even lower, and Nigeria’s democracy will be at greater risk.”
A senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) figure in Edo, who asked not to be named, claimed that results are being written.
He also alleged that squadrons of police will be brought in on Friday to stop “us from entering the collation centre on Saturday.”
The PDP chieftain raised further concerns over the reported deployment of two controversial INEC officials from Rivers State; Suleiman Blessing and Williams Alamina who, he said, played very uncomfortable roles in last year’s governorship election.
“This is exactly what INEC, APC, and the Police did last year,” he said.
“If they succeed again, Nigerians should forget about 2027. They will repeat the same thing and tell us to go to court.”
The coalition urged Governor Monday Okpebholo to condemn threats allegedly made by his supporters against opposition candidates and to guarantee a peaceful poll in his role as the state’s Chief Security Officer.
In Kaduna State, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) made similar allegations.
They claimed the APC-led state government had recruited about 4,000 thugs to harass voters and disrupt polling units in Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, as well as state constituencies in Sabon Gari and Zaria.
The two parties alleged compromise by senior INEC officials, saying money has since exchanged hands.
Opposition groups and election monitors in both states urged INEC to remove any officials suspected of bias, conduct open and credible collation, and safeguard voters and party representatives.
Neither the APC nor the state concerned have issued a rebuttal to this claim yet.
