Yiaga Africa, an election monitoring group, criticised the incidents of vote buying that marred Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State. Addressing reporters in Akure, the group condemned vote dealing as a huge danger to electoral credibility. Yiaga’s chairman and Director of Programmes, Ezenwa Nwagwu, and Cynthia Mbamalu, both expressed concern that vote buying encourages election corruption.
They also stated that the practice “erodes equality in electoral competition and undermines the legitimacy of electoral victory.” Both Mbamalu and Nwagwu commented: “Yiaga Africa calls on political parties to refrain from the culture of commercialisation of elections in Nigeria and instead invest in practices that enhance trust in the electoral process.”
The election monitoring organisation also tasked INEC with taking “deliberate steps to protect the secrecy of the ballot and enforce its electoral guidelines, especially those related to the secrecy of the ballot.” Additionally, Yiaga Africa advised the commission to “ensure that the BVAS is consistently updated and upgraded to ensure optimal functionality.” Yiaga Africa also remarked that election offenders detained during the Ondo election “should be handed over to the police for due prosecution.”
The group stated, “Security authorities should be more proactive in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators of voter fraud and vote purchasing. Political parties and candidates should reject this pervasive and intolerable culture of impunity, as well as the ugly trend of buying votes and undermining electoral integrity.”
It went on to say that political parties and candidates should stimulate issue-based voting, invest in the development of political parties that adhere to democratic ideals, and support electoral integrity. Abiodun Alabi, the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Ondo election, praised the successful conclusion of the state’s governorship election.
Alabi, as he addressed the media, stated: “I am proud to report that the electoral activities, from the initial stages of preparations to the final announcement of results, were secured with the highest level of integrity and professionalism by the police and other security agencies.”
“The meticulous efforts of our officers, in collaboration with other election security agencies and stakeholders, ensured that the process was peaceful, free, and credible.” “I’d want to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who played an important part at some point during the electoral process. Election officials and poll workers demonstrated admirable dedication and professionalism.
