On the morning of Sunday, September 22, 2024, there was a tense scene at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Benin, as Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki was escorted out by police.
Governor Obaseki arrived at the INEC office, which serves as the state collation center for the Saturday governorship election, around 2 a.m., reportedly without invitation. He sought to raise concerns over discrepancies in the collation of results, particularly from his local government area, Oredo.
INEC officials informed him that only party agents, journalists, and election observers were allowed at the collation center. Despite this, Obaseki insisted on meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), which led to protests from All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters and officials who also showed up to contest his presence.
In response, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Frank Mba arrived at the scene with soldiers to prevent any confrontation. By 4:45 a.m., police officers led Obaseki out of the premises, urging him to leave.
While INEC has yet to announce official results, the commission has made considerable progress, uploading results from 4,259 of the 4,519 polling units on its IReV portal.