The Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa (CDD-West Africa) reported instances of vote buying during the 2024 Ondo State Governorship election through its Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC), SAVANNAH NEWSNOW REPORTS.
In a statement, the organization detailed that in Okitipupa Local Government Area, voters were offered ₦10,000 by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ₦3,000 by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in exchange for their votes. Similar occurrences were noted in Odigbo LGA, with APC and PDP offering ₦10,000 and ₦5,000 respectively.
Additionally, in Ese-Odo, vote buying was observed with PDP offering ₦3,000 and APC offering ₦5,000. The organisation also highlighted that to avoid detection, some party agents resorted to transferring money to voters.
Furthermore, in areas where direct vote buying was challenging due to security presence, voters photographed their ballots as proof to receive payment.
It said a dispute that required security agents’ intervention was recorded at Ifedore LGA, Ward 1, PU 12 (Olafare), when an APC agent attempted to assist a person with disabilities in voting, which was strongly opposed by a PDP agent.
It said security officials had to be prompted to intervene when APC supporters overpowered PDP agents when voter suppression was noticed at Akoko North West, Oke Agbe Ward 3, Unit 17, the polling unit of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The organisation, however, commended security officials for contributing to crowd control, “however, minimal efforts were made to prevent vote buying and open campaigning at the polling units.”
While lamenting the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, the CDD-EAC noted that there was at least one in all the polling units observed.
The CDD-EAC concluded by urging all stakeholders in the electoral process to ensure adherence to the rule of law and due process as the election, collation and declaration of results lead to the point of conclusion.
