Thousands of voters in the 18 local government areas and spread over 192 wards in Edo State are stranded and cannot vote in the primaries of the All Progressives Congress that should be underway now.
As of 12noon, all APC election committee members who should conduct the elections are still in Benin, the state capital.
- Kenn Ayere’s Lifestyle Value Mall provides job opportunities for over 100 youths in Benin
- 2025 AFCON Qualifiers: Osimhen, Lookman score as Nigeria beat Benin Republic
- Buratai mourns Yar’Adua’s mother
- Why we are against using INEC officials from Imo, Kogi for Edo polls – Ighodalo
- FG implementing critical initiatives to train, equip police personnel – Tinubu
Party sources alleged that this was based on an instruction by the Chairman of the committee overseeing the primaries and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma.
Across the state, no election is taking place as materials are yet to be deployed and officials have been not allowed to travel to their stations.
Over 50,000 voters are right now being disenfranchised.
Meanwhile, fake results are flying around on the social media allocating fake numbers to candidates.
Reports have it that some APC leaders have the results written and will announce it shortly.
Observers complained about the flagrant disregard for democracy and the rights of voters, describing the development as unacceptable.
They insisted that the people of Edo State deserved a free, fair and transparent electoral process, adding it was deeply disappointing to see such blatant disregard for the democratic process.
One of them said: “The APC leadership must take immediate action to rectify this situation and ensure that the primary elections are conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
“Anything short of this would be a betrayal of the trust of the people of Edo State and a mockery of democracy.
“We call on all relevant authorities to investigate these serious allegations of misconduct and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”
There are fears that is planning to declare one of the aspirants, Senator Monday Okpebholo, as winner in spite of the monumental glitches and then leave the state thereafter.