…charges INEC on free, fair, credible election.
By Gloria Ogbu
A non-governmental organisation, Yiaga Africa, has cautioned politicians to desist from vote buying and bribery in the forthcoming Ekiti governorship election.
The Director of Programs, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, said this at a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, on Wednesday.
Mbamalu bemoaned the high rate of vote buying in Ekiti state and the nation at large, despite the consistent campaigns against voters inducement.
She however said Yiaga Africa is on a fight against any form of vote buying during the election, urging politicians to win the hearts of the electorates with issue-based campaign, rather than buying their votes with worthless gifts.
Her words: Yiaga Africa is immensely concerned that the spate of voter inducement which has taken a dimension of the door to door engagement may become the major determinant in the elections. We are worried that, despite persistent campaigns against voter inducement, politicians have continued to prioritize vote trading over issue-based campaigns.
“Just like in the 2018 Ekiti governorship election, where mandates were presumed to be purchased rather than duly elected, this year’s election is shaping up to be a bigger money fiesta.
“Yiaga Africa vehemently opposes any sort of voter bribery because it undermines the democratic process. Political parties are encouraged to run issues-based campaigns rather than tempting voters with unsustainable gifts that do not contribute to the state’s economic development.
Mbamalu also called on all registered voters in the state yet to collect the Permanent Voters Card, PVCs, to get it before the election.
She went further to charge the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure that the Ekiti state election is free, fair and credible.
“Yiaga Africa calls on all registered voters in Ekiti State who have not collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs), to use these few weeks to collect their cards as the collection of PVCs is ongoing in all INEC LGA offices and to vote on election day.
“As the election draws near INEC must ensure uniformity in its processes and consistency in the application of its guidelines across all polling units and LGAs in other to build confidence in the process.”