An anti-corruption advocacy group, Corruption, Not In My Country, has said there was widespread buying of votes during the Ekiti gubernatorial election held on July 14.
The group’s executive director, Akin Fadeyi, stated that the Ekiti poll has raised doubts about the forthcoming 2019 election.
He said there were reports that party agents of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) handed out cash to Ekiti electorates during the poll, The Cable reports.
Votes were sold for prices ranging between N3000 and N5000. The election that should produce
a good leader in a state so endowed with intellectual human resources was blighted as it turned out to be a selection of the higher bidder,” the group said.
“The sad incident, well documented by international and local media are in video footages and prints and have become accessible to the whole world. This has placed us on the spotlight as the laughing stock of the global community and has indeed shown how uncommitted we are to advancing and deepening our democratic processes.
“The desperation exhibited by the Nigerian politicians calls the sincerity of their intentions to serve to questioning. It is a contradiction, that individuals who profess “the will to serve” would partake in acts capable of jeopardizing or causing harm to the people they pledge to serve, and lead.
“Corrupting the public
through financial inducement runs at variance with our campaign against
grassroots corruption, it sends wrong signals to the youth and
dangerously undermines the values of diligence and hardwork.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of observers of the July 14 Ekiti governorship election said the conduct of the election, which gave victory to the All Progressives Congress candidate, Kayode Fayemi, did not comply with the global best practices and electoral standards.
Premium Times reports that Gabriel Nwambu of the Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness on behalf of the observers said there was massive vote buying during the election.
Fayemi has, however, dispelled the claims of the coalition, saying it was the fabrication of the Ekiti state government to discredit the July 14, election that made him the winner.
The group urged President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and the political class to do their utmost in strengthening the democratic process in Nigeria.
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