Ekiti 2022: Group Condemns Rampant Voter Inducement at Poll, Lauds INEC Performance
- A civil society group, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has commended INEC for its performance at the gubernatorial polls in Ekiti
- The group also lauded the efficiency of security operatives, who were able to maintain normalcy during the polls
- However, the group chairman, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani condemned the dominance of vote-buying during the election
FCT, Abuja - The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has condemned the high rate of voter inducement in the just-concluded gubernatorial elections in Ekiti state.
According to a statement made available to Legit.ng on Monday, June 20, the chairman of the group, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani lamented the growing trend of using public funds to financially induce voters.
Source: Facebook
Rafsanjani branded the occurrence of voter inducement during the gubernatorial polls as "most unfortunate".
He said:
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“Vote-buying was observed across the 16 local government areas of the state with political parties bidding for the votes of electorates.
“The ability of Ekiti politicians to make light of such a grave violation of extant law is most unfortunate. Transformation Monitoring Group condemns this blatant violation of the electoral law.”
TMG lauds INEC, security agencies
Rafsanjani however commended the independent electoral commission for putting up a fine performance in ensuring that the electoral process was in conformity with the statutory provisions of the electoral law.
He went further to express his satisfaction in the deployment of security operatives across the numerous polling units in the state who helped in maintaining normalcy during the polls.
Rafsanjani also noted that priority voting was given to voters such as People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs), elderly persons and pregnant women in most of the polling units in the state.
He said:
“Reports from field observers indicate that it takes at least 3 minutes to accredit a voter using the BVAS in 41% of the locations observed. Going by this, the BVAS would have successfully accredited 20 voters per hour on the average in the affected voting locations.”
Rafsanjani however urged INEC to improve its strategy to improve the turnaround time of the BVAS of one minute per voter for a seamless process on election day.
Ekiti 2022: Vote buying, ballot snatching surges at polls as INEC maintain clean slate
In another similar report, persistent case of voter inducement is said to have taken over the electoral process of the Ekiti governorship election.
Electoral observer group, Yiaga Africa stated that voter inducement is on the rampage in some polling units across the state.
It was also gathered that ballot box snatching occurred in at least two polling units in Ilawe Ekiti state.
INEC official results are consistent, says Yiaga Africa
However, Yiaga Africa has certified the conduct of the Ekiti gubernatorial polls by INEC as a satisfactory election.
The election observer group says the election results of INEC shows consistency and correlates with the findings of the Yiaga Africa electoral observation team.
Residents of Ekiti, security operatives, the monarch and other stakeholders were also commended for making the election violent-free.
Source: Legit.ng
