Edo Decides: Protests erupt as Obaseki storms INEC amid collation delays

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki visited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in the early hours of Sunday, prompting protests from supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Accompanied by security aides, Obaseki entered the office of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for a closed-door meeting that lasted over an hour. This INEC office serves as the main collation center for the ongoing governorship election, where results are being gathered and verified.

While Obaseki met with INEC officials, a group of APC supporters gathered outside to express their concerns. They argued that it was inappropriate for the governor to engage with INEC officials during an active election. Tensions rose as the protesters demanded transparency and fairness in the electoral process.

In a surprising development, the leader of the protesting group was allowed to join the meeting with Obaseki and the REC, though details of their discussion remain undisclosed.

Obaseki left the INEC office around 4:45 a.m., but security personnel prevented journalists from questioning him about the meeting’s content or the ongoing election.

At the time of this report, INEC had not yet begun the official collation of results. However, the commission has made significant progress in uploading election results to its portal, with data from 4,259 polling units already available on the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) platform. A total of 4,519 polling units are expected to be included, marking a notable step toward transparency in the electoral process.