#EkitiDecides2022, an improvement on previous elections ― CTA

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3 years ago

Ekiti electorate on the queue to cast their votes

The Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) has described the Ekiti State governorship election as an improvement on the nation’s democratic process, as against the initial narrative before the election.

Speaking on the preliminary report of the election conducted on Saturday in Ado Ekiti, the Executive Secretary of CTA, Faith Nwadishi, said reports from observers sent to the 16 local government areas across the state indicated that the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) has helped to douse tension during the election.

She said: “BIVAS performance has been a tremendous improvement compared to previous experience. By all standard, we are seeing improvement over time and our democracy will be better for it. We can say we have had a more improved BIVAS performance.

“The peace and tranquility we saw in this election is as a result of the BIVAS. It has helped to remove voters identity theft. Unlike before when you can pick people Voters Cards to vote, when we use Incident Form, it has helped to erase that.

“BIVAS has also helped with uploading of results. Now you declare results at polling units and it is offloaded. So, if we have that kind of technology, what we should do is to encourage it.”

Nwadishi who commended all stakeholders, however, said despite the impressive turnout, voters were heavily induced, saying the phenomenon of vote buying is fast becoming a major feature of the nation’s democracy manifested during this election.

She said: “Our observers reported parties paying as much as N7,000 for votes while in some instances packs of Sphagetti and Semovita were shared to voters.

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“It is heartwarming to observe that some culpable party agents were arrested by the agents of EFCC. INEC, the security agencies and other stakeholders need to work out measures to effectively address this ugly phenomenon.”

Still speaking on the BIVAS, Nwadishi said reports from the field indicated that the BIVAS performed very well in the Ekiti elections with voter accreditation taking between two to three minutes on the average.

“Compared to other states where BIVAS malfunctioned, CTA noted with satisfaction the performance of INEC officials during the election. In most of the polling units covered by our observers, polling officials exhibited professionalism and knowledge of their duties.”

She commended the INEC over early arrival of polling officials in most of the polling units, while voter accreditation and voting started on time in most of the polling units observed, saying “many of the officials arrived early in most of the polling units, with many of the polling units opening around 8.30am.

“This is an indication of improvement with regards to election logistics arrangement on the part of INEC. We hope this improvement will be consolidated upon and carried into the 2023 general elections.

“Reports from our observers in the field indicate that voter accreditation and voting started on time in most of the polling units observed. While there were hitches in a few polling units, our observers report indicated that about 80 percent of polling units opened on time.

“On time of arrival and Conduct of Security agents, our observers report indicate that security agents generally arrived promptly at the polling units and were professional in their conducts especially in the maintenance of law and order.

“We further observed that there was synergy and networking among the various security agencies. However, there were pockets of complaints about the welfare of the deployed security agents.

Speaking on voters turnout, she said, “from our observers’ report, voter turnout was generally impressive. We therefore commend the Ekiti electorate for their enthusiastic turnout.

“The CTA commends the INEC, security agencies and the good people of Ekiti state for playing their part towards the growth and development of our democracy.”