Dr. Bright Enabulele, the governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the recent Edo State election, has rejected the results, describing the election as peaceful but lacking credibility.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, Enabulele explained his reasons for disputing the outcome of the election, which took place last Saturday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced on Sunday that Senator Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election. However, Enabulele raised concerns about the electoral process that led to this declaration, expressing dissatisfaction with how the election was conducted.
“I don’t have an issue with the winner of the election,” Enabulele stated. “My problem lies with the process used to conduct the election. The election process should protect the voices of the people.”
Enabulele emphasized that the integrity of an election determines the level of corruption in a country. He argued that when election procedures are not properly followed, the result may not reflect the will of the people. “If the process is flawed, you end up electing individuals who are not truly representative of the people, and this opens the door to corruption and bad governance,” he added.
Enabulele highlighted the difference between a peaceful and credible election, stressing that while the Edo election was peaceful, it was not credible. He noted several issues, including voter suppression, intimidation, and vote-buying, particularly in his own political unit in Ikpoba-Oha Local Government Area.
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“There were a lot of things that went wrong at my unit, including voter suppression and intimidation,” Enabulele said. “This is not the way to elect someone to lead a state, especially when the process is interfered with by people. When human interference dominates the process, you end up with the wrong leaders, and corruption thrives.”
The Accord Party candidate strongly criticized INEC, blaming them for what he described as a “poor electoral process.” Enabulele argued that INEC should have ensured that human interference was minimized, especially with the introduction of technology like the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) and IREV (INEC Results Viewing Portal). He shared his personal experience of voting and then discovering that his vote was not counted in his local government area.
“I used the BVAS system to vote. My identity was verified, my photo was taken, I voted, and yet, when the results came in, I had zero votes in my local government. What happened to my vote? INEC needs to answer that,” he questioned.
Enabulele further noted that this election was not just about the present but also the future. “This election is about the future of our state. History will judge us based on how we handle these processes. I’m not here for a power struggle, but for fairness. If I fail, I want to fail correctly, and if I win, I want to win correctly.”
The Accord Party candidate also criticized the media for bias during the election coverage. He claimed that the media only focused on the candidates from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and All Progressives Congress (APC), leaving the other candidates, including himself, largely ignored.
“The media treated this election like it was a three-man race, ignoring the fact that there were 17 candidates. By giving more attention to the PDP, LP, and APC candidates, the media essentially told the public to focus on these three and disregard the others. This influenced the way people voted and allowed for manipulation,” Enabulele added.
In conclusion, while Dr. Bright Enabulele acknowledged that the Edo election was peaceful, he remained firm in his position that it was not credible, citing numerous issues with the electoral process and the role of both INEC and the media in shaping the outcome.
