The Justice, Development and Peace Maker’s Centre (JDPMC) has reported widespread vote buying in the recently concluded Ondo State governorship election.
Speaking at its post-election press conference, Rev. Father Peter Akinkunmi, the General Coordinator of JDPMC, said both major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were implicated in the illegal practice, with voters reportedly receiving cash payments ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦10,000 in exchange for their votes.
“Incidence of vote buying seem to have characterized the most widespread illegality during the election. Generally, exchange of money or material inducements was not observed in the PUs. But build up towards it was observed therein.
“Voters snapped their thumb printed ballot papers, took tags from party agents, in some cases voters registered their names, phone numbers and account details with party agents.
“Some others received immediate cash from party agents at premises close to the polling units ranging from N3,000 to N10,000. Both the APC and the PDP are alleged to be the primary inducers of voters.
“There was an incident of verbal violence between a party agent and voters at PU 12 Oke Ijebu- Jakos Junction RA 4 Ijomu/ Obanla Akure South where voters alleged that the amount, they were given was below the original amount approved by the party,” he explained.
Akinkunmi said the organization deployed 18 campaign finance trackers to the state months before the election to monitor the financial activities of political parties.
This, he said, was part of a broader strategy to provide accurate data and insights into the election process, utilizing rovers, a situation team, and the Just-Watcher app for real-time reporting.
The group’s observations at 47 polling units on the election day revealed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deployed materials and personnel for the election in a timely manner.
However, Akinkunmi said voter turnout was notably low.
He said, “Generally, a low voter turnout across the state was observed. In PU 20, RA 1 Okitipupa, voters did not turnout as at 12:00 noon despite the presence of of polling officers by 8:30 am.
“JDPMC also observed that voting ended in most of the polling units by 2:30p.m. and results were collated, announced, and uploaded to the IREV.”
Despite the general orderliness observed in about 98% of polling units, he said a few instances of violence were recorded,
In his words, “In Okitipupa Ward 1 units 19 an argument was observed among party agents that led to violent incident in which one person was reportedly stabbed).
“In Idanre ward 7 unit 3 (Ballot box snatched by unknown gun men which resulted to violence)”
Regarding the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), JDPMC noted that the devices were available at all observed polling units, in most cases, the accreditation process was efficient, taking less than two minutes.
However, the organization raised concerns about the lack of inclusivity, pointing out that ad-hoc personnel did not have assistive materials for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Security was mostly adequate, with most polling units remaining peaceful throughout the voting process, he however, noted isolated incidents of violence in specific areas raised concerns about the effectiveness of security measures in some locations.
Despite these issues, JDPMC commended the overall improvement in the conduct of the election by INEC and the efforts of security agencies.
The organization also highlighted discrepancies between the results posted at certain polling units and those uploaded on the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV), including
Odigbo LGA Ward 10 PU 3 St Paul’s Primary Schools Area, Ore II and Ward 10 PU 2 St Paul’s Primary Schools Area, Ore I.
Rev. Akinkunmi concluded that while there were improvements in the election’s overall conduct by INEC, calling for more improvement in the deployment of materials and security arrangements in future elections.
JDPMC announced that a comprehensive report on its observations during the Ondo State election would be published and made available to the public, providing detailed insights and recommendations for improving the electoral process.
