The Centre For Transparency Advocacy (CTA), has warned political parties, as matter of urgency should at all times mobilize voters instead of waiting to buy votes on election day, this the body said could also reduce voter apathy, as witnessed in these elections.
Addressing Journalists in Benin city, in a press conference, the Executive Director of CTA, Faith Nwadishi, after their findings and observations in the field, strongly condemned vote buying and selling.
She buttressed that, INEC, security agencies, Nigerians, and other interested parties must devise strategies to deal with this unpleasant occurrence.
Nwadishi equally suggested that, it is imperative for political parties to acknowledge that incentivizing vote buying is illegal, that security authorities should hold party officials accountable for the vote-buying actions of their agents.
She said,”We call on the leadership of Security agencies to train their personnel on the role and importance of election observers.
” Even when poll observers are properly identified, they are frequently harassed by security personnel while performing their duties or even while traveling to their duty posts.
“This incident was seen in Benin along Sapele Road, as well as at a few other locations in the states.Voter Turnout/ Conduct of Voters overall, poor voter turnout was reported by our observers.
” Raised fears of insecurity, “dashed expectations from the 2023 Presidential Election result”, inadequate voter education, and the heavy downpour in the state were all connected to the indifference among voters. We call on the political parties and INEC to enhance voter education.
“It is necessary to educate voters about the significance of elections. Nonetheless, CTA applauds voters for their peaceful and orderly conduct throughout the election, many of whom came out despite the heavy downpour performance of BVAS/Conduct of INEC Officials according to field reports, BVAS operated flawlessly in the state.”
Extolling INEC for their performance, she posited,” Voters typically were accredited within two minutes.With regards to INEC officials conduct, the CTA is pleased with the performance of the electoral officials throughout the election.
“Poll workers demonstrated professionalism and a thorough understanding of their responsibilities in the majority of voting places that our observers visited.
“The use of inexperienced ad hoc workers is the reason behind the flaws found in past elections. We urge INEC to make sure that, for future elections, only properly trained ad hoc employees are used.
“Vote Buying and Selling and Other Malpractice. In our elections, vote buying is fast becoming a norm that involves majority of political parties and their operatives. In the Edo Gubernatorial election, it was not any different.
“According to our observers, vote buying and selling were rampant, with the main parties using inventive vote-buying plans and strategies to elude law enforcement.
“Clear examples of vote buying were observed in Ward 6, Unit 7, Ikpoba Okha Local Government where a party was arrested by EFCC operatives with a cache of cash meant for vote buying.
“Also, in Ward 1, Unit 5, Esan North-East Local Government, a party loyalist was recorded to have publicly announced the payment of N20,000 to any voter who votes for his party’s candidates,” CTA groaned.
According to her, “Our observers were harassed by some Police personnel on their way to polling units. We call on the leadership of Security agencies to train their personnel on the role and importance of election observers.
“Even when poll observers are properly identified, they are frequently harassed by security personnel while performing their duties or even while traveling to their duty posts” . This incident was seen in Benin along Sapele Road, as well as at a few other locations in the states”. She noted.
The Executive Director of CTA said poor voter turnout was reported by their observers which raised fears of insecurity, dashed expectations from the 2023 Presidential Election result, inadequate voter education, and the heavy downpour in the state were all connected to the indifference among voters.
The CTA Executive Director explained that the use of inexperienced ad hoc workers is the reason behind the flaws found in past elections and therefore urged INEC to make sure that, for future elections, only properly trained ad hoc employees are used.
Nwadishi said they noted the improvements the general conduct of the election by INEC and hope that the peaceful atmosphere witnessed will be sustained as they look forward to Ondo State Governorship Election and other off-cycle elections.
