Nigeria

Bayelsa election results were manipulated - YIAGA

Monday, November 18, 2019 at 3:46 PM by Aanu Adegun

- Bayelsa election results were manipulated, according to YIAGA

- According to the group, the 352,552 votes or 71% for APC and 143,172 or 29% votes for PDP as announced by INEC are not consistent with the PVT

- YIAGA claims the PVT estimates between 62% and 46% for APC and 52% and 37% for PDP

There are indications that the results of the Bayelsa state gubernatorial election were manipulated, YIAGA Africa, a civil society organisation, has declared.

This was revealed after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared David Lyon, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election.

INEC said Lyon polled 352,552 votes to defeat Duoye Diri, his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 143,172 votes.

However, YIAGA in a statement made available to Legit.ng on Monday, November 18, said there were inconsistencies in the Bayelsa election.

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Recall that YIAGA had earlier announced that it could verify if results declared by INEC reflect the votes cast.

The organisation said the 352,552 votes or 71% for APC and 143,172 or 29% votes for PDP as announced by INEC are not consistent with the PVT estimates of between 62% and 46% for APC and 52% and 37% for PDP.

With this, they suggested that the results were manipulated during the collation process. It also claimed that if the tabulation process had been conducted properly then INEC’s official results would fall within the PVT estimates.

Going further, YIAGA claimed it could not verify the poll because elections did not occur in 61 of 250, or approximately 24%, of sampled polling units.

"This reduces the PVT sample and therefore YIAGA AFRICA cannot verify the outcome of the result."

“However, the PVT is still able to determine if the collation process was conducted properly and expose manipulation during the collation process.

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“The official results as announced by INEC for APC and PDP are not consistent with the PVT estimates. INEC announced that APC received 352,552 or 71% of the vote while the PVT estimated range is between 62% and 46% meaning that the largest vote share APC could have received is 62% of the vote.

“Similarly, INEC announced that PDP received 143,172 or 29% of the vote while the PVT estimated range is between 52% and 37% meaning that the smallest vote share PDP could have received is 37%.”

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Meanwhile, recall that Legit.ng had also reported that YIAGA Africa called for a new election in Kogi state.

The group said given the violence and vote-buying that characterised the election, the outcome cannot be a true reflection of the wish of Kogi people.