The Executive Director of the TAP Initiative, Martins Obono, has alleged fraud in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of connivance.
Obono, who made the allegation on Arise News Channel’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Friday November 1, presented what he termed “damning, incontrovertible evidence” of INEC’s role in the alleged conspiracy.
“When we compared the CTCs from INEC with iREV’s records, we uncovered something staggering,” he said. “It appears INEC produced a shadow set of result sheets to substitute the real ones. They bear identical serial numbers, yet the iREV results are signed by party agents while the CTCs are mysteriously unsigned.”
Obono revealed that TAP Initiative had enlisted a world-renowned forensic handwriting expert, whose expertise was sought by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, to scrutinise the CTCs. “The expert confirmed that several CTCs were filled out by a single individual,” Obono stated.
“One person sat down and forged these results. We were stunned. Democracies are built on trust in our institutions. If INEC can betray that trust, what does it mean for our future?”
Obono contended that the alleged manipulation was an institutionalised rigging. “For years, we suspected rogue actors in political parties, but this time, it’s the very institution entrusted to protect our democracy—INEC—that is subverting it. Citizens need to believe in the system, or democracy fails. This isn’t about one election; it’s about the soul of our democracy.”
He called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission (ICPC) to pursue a comprehensive investigation, insisting no one in the Commission should be exempted. “This cannot stand. If INEC’s actions go unpunished, it will form the playbook for all future elections,” he warned. “We fought too hard for this democracy to allow it to be dismantled by those who should protect it.”
