By Perpetua Onuegbu
A CSO, Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, has described Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti as largely peaceful, saying it was another opportunity for democratic consolidation and citizen participation.
Co-Convener of the CSO, Mr Celestine Odo, stated this on Monday in Abuja while presenting Situation Room’s post-election assessment.
Odo, of ActionAid Nigeria, said the coalition deployed observers across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti and received reports through its Election Accountability Tracker application.
He said that partner organisations, including ActionAid Nigeria, CLEEN Foundation, Centre LSD and Kimpact Development Initiative, deployed more than 200 accredited observers across the state.
Odo noted that election materials and officials arrived early in most polling units, with voting commencing on schedule in about 92 per cent of the polling units observed.
He, however, reported delays caused by late deployment and logistical challenges in some polling units in Ado-Ekiti and Erio towns.
Odo said that INEC conducted the election for 1,028,929 PVC holders, recording 384,940 accredited voters and 382,109 total votes cast.
He stated that voter turnout stood at about 35 per cent, reflecting persistent low participation in spite of high PVC collection figures.
The co-convener said that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functioned satisfactorily in most locations, though isolated technical glitches delayed accreditation and voting.
He identified BVAS failures and delayed activation in some polling units across Ado-Ekiti and Oye Local Government Areas.
Odo said over 85 per cent of polling unit results had been uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal by election evening.
He also said that security personnel were visible across polling centres, adding that the environment remained generally peaceful in spite of isolated incidents requiring investigation.
He, however, observed discrepancies involving political parties listed on ballot papers, result sheets and earlier INEC communications, saying it confused the voters.
He also said that it increased the number invalid votes, thus constituting a form of misinformation to the public.
“We look at governance outcome that affect citizens’ participation at elections. As a citizen, you come out to continuously vote but at the end of the day, your economic situation does not change. So they will want to ask:why voting?,” Odo said.
Another co-convener, Mma Odi, Co-convener, however, alleged vote buying during the exercise.
“When you talk about the election in 2022 there was so much tension between Segun Oni and Abiodun Oyebanji; a lot of fighting. We saw EFCC arresting many people but at the end, no one was prosecuted.
“But in this case, there was really no contest. So I was surprised at the widespread vote trading.
“We saw police personnel acting so professional but did nothing about the vote buying. We think police also should be concerned because it reduces the integrity of the election,” Odi said.
On his part Austine Aigbe, a member of the Situation Room, called on citizens to take responsibility and say No to vote buying.
The coalition urged INEC, security agencies, political parties and other stakeholders to address electoral shortcomings and strengthen public confidence and trust ahead of future elections.(NAN)www.nannews.ng
Edited by Wale Sadeeq