The Conference of Registered Political Parties (CRPP), Edo state chapter, has alleged that the huge vote figures announced in the July 11 local government election were manufactured to create the impression that the All Progressives Congress (APC) enjoys overwhelming grassroots support.
The coalition, in a statement jointly signed by its national chairman, Dr. Samson Isibor, and national secretary, Hon. Nkama Waribe, said the 2,158,600 figures being celebrated by the APC did not reflect the reality witnessed across polling units in the state, where it claimed voter turnout was generally poor.
CRPP said: “The figures being celebrated are clearly designed to hoodwink President Bola Ahmed Tinubu into believing that the APC still enjoys overwhelming grassroots support in Edo state.
”However, the reality on the ground tells a different story, as the empty polling units and low voter participation exposed the true mood of the people.”
The coalition described the APC’s celebration of the election outcome as an attempt to legitimise what it called “manufactured figures” rather than the genuine will of the electorate, adding that claims of over two million votes were unrealistic in an election allegedly characterised by widespread voter apathy across the 18 local government areas.
It further argued that the poor turnout reflected growing public dissatisfaction with the APC-led administrations at both the state and federal levels and attributed the situation to worsening insecurity, hunger, unemployment, poverty and the rising cost of living.
