Dr. Shiny Enabulele, the governorship candidate of the Accord Social gathering within the current Edo State election, has rejected the outcomes, describing the election as peaceable however missing credibility.
Talking throughout a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Enabulele defined his causes for disputing the end result of the election, which happened final Saturday.
The Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) had introduced on Sunday that Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gained the election. Nonetheless, Enabulele raised considerations concerning the electoral course of that led to this declaration, expressing dissatisfaction with how the election was performed.
“I don’t have a problem with the winner of the election,” Enabulele said. “My downside lies with the method used to conduct the election. The election course of ought to shield the voices of the folks.”
Enabulele emphasised that the integrity of an election determines the extent of corruption in a rustic. He argued that when election procedures are usually not correctly adopted, the end result might not replicate the need of the folks. “If the method is flawed, you find yourself electing people who are usually not actually consultant of the folks, and this opens the door to corruption and unhealthy governance,” he added.
Enabulele highlighted the distinction between a peaceable and credible election, stressing that whereas the Edo election was peaceable, it was not credible. He famous a number of points, together with voter suppression, intimidation, and vote-buying, significantly in his personal political unit in Ikpoba-Oha Native Authorities Space.
“There have been a whole lot of issues that went incorrect at my unit, together with voter suppression and intimidation,” Enabulele mentioned. “This isn’t the best way to elect somebody to steer a state, particularly when the method is interfered with by folks. When human interference dominates the method, you find yourself with the incorrect leaders, and corruption thrives.”
The Accord Social gathering candidate strongly criticized INEC, blaming them for what he described as a “poor electoral course of.” Enabulele argued that INEC ought to have ensured that human interference was minimized, particularly with the introduction of know-how just like the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) and IREV (INEC Outcomes Viewing Portal). He shared his private expertise of voting after which discovering that his vote was not counted in his native authorities space.
“I used the BVAS system to vote. My id was verified, my picture was taken, I voted, and but, when the outcomes got here in, I had zero votes in my native authorities. What occurred to my vote? INEC must reply that,” he questioned.
Enabulele additional famous that this election was not simply concerning the current but in addition the long run. “This election is about the way forward for our state. Historical past will decide us primarily based on how we deal with these processes. I’m not right here for an influence battle, however for equity. If I fail, I need to fail appropriately, and if I win, I need to win appropriately.”
The Accord Social gathering candidate additionally criticized the media for bias through the election protection. He claimed that the media solely targeted on the candidates from the Peoples Democratic Social gathering (PDP), Labour Social gathering (LP), and All Progressives Congress (APC), leaving the opposite candidates, together with himself, largely ignored.
“The media handled this election prefer it was a three-man race, ignoring the very fact that there have been 17 candidates. By giving extra consideration to the PDP, LP, and APC candidates, the media basically instructed the general public to concentrate on these three and disrespect the others. This influenced the best way folks voted and allowed for manipulation,” Enabulele added.
In conclusion, whereas Dr. Shiny Enabulele acknowledged that the Edo election was peaceable, he remained agency in his place that it was not credible, citing quite a few points with the electoral course of and the position of each INEC and the media in shaping the end result.
