As Edo State prepares for the August 16, 2025 bye-elections in the Edo Central Senatorial District and Ovia Federal Constituency, the Coalition of Observer Groups in Nigeria has raised alarm over possible electoral manipulation and the excessive use of security forces.

The group expressed concern that unresolved controversies from the September 2024 governorship election which was marred by allegations of duplicate result sheets, irregular collation, and electoral bias could resurface. According to them, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) never fully addressed those allegations, leaving many voters doubtful about its neutrality.

In a statement signed by Simon Diogu, the coalition revealed credible intelligence suggesting that “predetermined results” could be engineered through the unlawful preparation of duplicate result sheets before the collation process even begins.

They also warned that security agencies, especially the police, might be deployed in a way that restricts opposition party agents from accessing collation centres a move that would contravene the Electoral Act and undermine democratic transparency.

Edo Central, being the home constituency of the sitting governor, has raised additional concerns about political influence. The observers urged the governor to publicly denounce threats allegedly made by his supporters and to guarantee a free, fair, and violence-free process in his capacity as the state’s Chief Security Officer.

The coalition emphasized that the August 16 polls will serve as a litmus test for INEC’s credibility:

“Any democracy is only as strong as the confidence reposed in it by its citizens. Trust, once broken, is difficult to rebuild,” the statement read.

They stressed that the electoral body must ensure open, verifiable, and interference-free collation to restore public trust, noting that both Nigerians and the international community will be closely watching the conduct of the elections.