There is no plan to rig Edo election - INEC REC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is not planning to rig Edo election.

Mike Igini, the INEC REC, made the statement in reaction to allegations by APC chairman, John Mayaki, that INEC is planning to rig the forthcoming governorship election in Edo state in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Specifically, they alleged that Igini received a bribe from the PDP to swing the polls in its favour.

Mayaki had asked Igini to explain his presence at Protea Hotel in Benin City where National Commissioners of the electoral body from Abuja were lodged.

According to Mayaki, some said youth corps members claimed Igini approached them to swap results with fake, pre-written ballots allegedly in production at the Edo state government house, This Day reports.

“For the second time within a week, my name has been needlessly and maliciously dragged into a political group’s statement on the Edo election. The statement falsely and erroneously claimed that I was in Benin on Thursday 27th August 2020," Igini lamented.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth Assurance Movement has said that APC is fine-tuning strategies to rig the poll, while Governor Godwin Obaseki, the PDP candidate is coasting to victory on the back of huge grassroots' support.

National coordinator of the group, Prince Asunogie Tajudeen, made the comments during a press briefing in Benin city, the Edo state capital on Friday, August 28.

Tajudeen urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to remain above board, stressing that “millions of Nigerians, home and abroad, are closely monitoring the events leading to the poll.”