Ekiti guber poll: Observer group demands clampdown on vote buyers

Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti state, an election observer group, Yiaga Africa has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies to collaborate in a bid to stop the financial inducement of voters during the poll.

The group who expressed displeasure over the dimension of inducement by various political parties leading to the election noted that Saturday’s election must be protected from being hijacked and determined by politicians with the highest money to induce voters.

The Executive Director of Yiaga, Samson Itodo while speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday commended INEC for its preparation ahead of the election, urging the commission not to fail the people of Ekiti.

He lamented that financial inducement has been identified as a clog in the wheel of the nation’s democracy, calling on the stakeholders especially the security agencies to arrest and prosecute both buyers and sellers of votes during elections.

On the movement of sensitive materials, Itodo explained that the decision of INEC to move the storage at the vault of the Central Bank of Nigeria was a demonstration to protect the sanctity process of conducting an acceptable and credible election.

” We applaud the decision of INEC to refrain from storing sensitive materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria due to allegations of partisanship levelled against the Governor of the CBN. This shift in the protocol for managing the deployment of sensitive materials places a huge responsibility on INEC to ensure the safety and security of sensitive materials as well as effective deployment to LGAs and Registration Centres.

” Key stakeholders and the public should be adequately informed of INEC’s new strategy for the deployment of sensitive materials. Additionally, the security agencies should support the quest for credible and peaceful polls by providing adequate security to INEC to guarantee the safety of sensitive materials and timely deployment to the polling units,” he said.

Speaking further, the Yiaga boss added, ” Yiaga Africa is immensely worried about the perennial challenge of poor logistics plans in our elections. In recent times, the partnership with the NURTW was soured by sabotage and greed by the union. Yiaga Africa welcomes the intervention of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti urging members of the NURTW to desist from sabotaging INEC’s logistics plan.

” The Commission should consider alternative and viable options of ensuring effective and timely deployment of election materials to polling units in the event the NURTW defaults. Despite this challenge, Yiaga Africa notes INEC’s commitments during the pre-election period to smooth logistics deployment during the Ekiti governorship election.”

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Ekiti guber poll: Observer group demands clampdown on vote buyers

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Ekiti guber poll: Observer group demands clampdown on vote buyers