Hours after voting in the Ondo State gubernatorial election ended across the 18 local government areas and 3,009 polling units of the state, the KIMPACT Development Initiative (KDI), one of the officially accredited Observer Organization approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appraised the conducts of the poll in the State.
Addressing newsmen in Akure on Saturday’s afternoon at the Royal Birds Hotel in Alagbaka GRA, Mr. Bukola Idowu, the Executive Director for KIMPACT Development Initiative as well as Mr. Dare Adeoye, a Member of the Advisory Board of the KIMPACT Development Initiative condemned and decried the rate of vote buying in the election.
Bukola Idowu and Dare Adeoye posited and called for the need to enact laws that will help to outrightly stamped out vote buying from the country’s electoral system. They added that “the time has come for the issue of electronic voting to be adopted and brought into the Nigeria’s electoral system”.
KIMPACT specifically adduced the reason for vote buying in Nigeria’s polity to include the high rate of poverty. It, however, advocated and stressed on the need for more Sensitization against the culture and attitude called vote buying.
According to the KIMPACT Development Initiative Executive Director, Mr. Bukola Idowu, he said, “the rate at which votes buying ravaged our society is now at an alarming stage. The Ondo Governorship Election held today is dominated and laced with the highest bidder syndrome.
“The Akoko area of Ondo State access to violence is very high because it is very close to Kogi State. In view of this, the violent rate of the election in the Akoko’s area is at 5.6% rate”.
KIMPACT Development Initiative (KDI) therefore used the opportunity of the media interaction to call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on its logistics as regards the timely deployment of the election materials to polling units and an end to the attitude of getting Election materials arrived late in some polling units during election period.
The group advised INEC to ensure it prepared itself for any eventual occurrence of any natural disasters like rainfall during elections in the Country. It also alleged that the cases of violence in Nigeria’s electoral process is disturbing. It expressed optimism that Nigeria can have a violence-free election urging Nigerians to take note that their lives are worth much more than any politician’s political ambition.
KDI also condemned the impunity displayed by vote traders during the Guber Poll as very worrisome alleging that vote buying was gradually destroying the nation’s democracy.
It advised that there is a need for INEC to conduct elections in such a way that vote buying will stop being lucrative. Voting should be made so secret that the voters are not able to show their ballot papers to the buyers or in such a way that ‘would be buyers’ are not able to determine who was voted for by the ‘would be sellers’ “.
KIMPACT Development Initiative (KDI) also called on the political actors in Ondo State to prevail on their followers to desists from all forms of violence after the declaration of election results.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
