From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
The November 16 governorship election in Ondo State has come and gone but has further raised a lot of questions on the nation’s electoral process. As usual, while members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are relishing their victory, some members of the opposition are kicking against the outcome of the poll.
The Ondo governorship poll would add to the questions hanging on Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s tenure as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, despite the shortcomings in the exercise, many observers believe there were noticeable improvements to the previous elections in the country. Some of the improvements include the early arrival of INEC officials in all the polling centres across the state, prompt arrival of all election materials including the sensitive ones, functionality of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, open collation of results and prompt announcement of results.
A week before the governorship election, the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu had assured that the commission would improve on the Edo State governorship election during the Ondo election.
Daily Sun observed that despite the criticisms in some quarters, the commission tried to substantially upload the results of the election on the IREV.
As early as 8.00am, election materials were fully on ground in all the polling centres in Akure, Ondo, Idanre, Ore and other various communities visited. Even the coastal communities of the state located in Ilaje and Ese-Odo Local Government Areas including Kiribo, Ugbo and Igbokoda among many others recorded early arrival of election materials and prompt commencement of election despite their locations.
In the estimation of many critical observers also, the advent of technology has brought improvements to election exercises in the country and to a large extent, reduced electoral malpractices, especially rigging of votes and snatching of ballot boxes.
In most of the polling centres visited during the governorship election, violence was not recorded, neither was their much incidents of crises that used to characterize the country’s election in the past.
Daily Sun observed that even though the election was generally peaceful, pocket of violence was reported in Ofosu, a sleepy community in Odigbo Local Government Area of the state with some people sustaining injuries.
One of the major challenges that marred the election was the issue of vote buying which was recorded in almost all the polling centres in the state and which was done by the major political parties that participated in the election.
The election which was keenly contested between the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa who is also the serving governor of the state and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Agboola Ajayi will forever linger in the minds of many residents of the state, especially the key political actors with the level at which vote buying assumed.
Vote buying or vote trading which has eventually become a norm in the fabrics of our politics can be said to be a result of poverty that is ravaging the country. However, the dimension it assumed in Ondo State during the last Saturday’s governorship election calls for serious actions on the part of the stakeholders in the nation’s electoral system as it is capable of ruining the system.
Many of the voters in Ondo State failed to honour their conscience and voted for the highest bidder. It was shameful that the voters would ask how much their vote was before casting it and at the end, they would be paid for voting. It is obvious that the people failed to vote for performance or credibility but voted for money.
In many of the polling centres where the governorship election took place in the state, a single vote was bought for #5,000, while in a few places, some sold their votes for #10,000 and there were those who did not sell for more than #4,000 depending on the “wealth” of the political party that bought their votes.
There is no gainsaying that the act of vote buying is a very shameful act capable of truncating the nation’s democratic experience as such act only make it possible for the highest bidder to emerge in an election.
That the election went the way it did with the winner, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa winning in all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state is an indication that the opposition in Ondo State, especially the PDP has a lot to do to checkmate the ruling party to implement policies favourable to the people.
Although the PDP has not made its position known on whether or not the results of the election will be challenged at the Elections Petition Tribunal, the party described the election as the worst to be conducted by INEC.
Also, the governorship candidate of the party, Agboola Ajayi said INEC performed below expectations and compromised its stand based on the conduct of the election, saying that the election fell short of expectations of the PDP.
But the winner of the election, Governor Aiyedatiwa hailed the performances of INEC and rated the electoral body high just as he lauded security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
The govzernor who dedicated his victory to God and former Governor of the state, Late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu also extended an olive branch to other contestants, urging them to team up with him for the development and progress of the state. He said the election had ended and there was the need for all of them to join hands for the development of the state.
But reacting on the conduct of the exercise, an election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa called for the prosecution of all election offenders arrested during the election for allegedly violating the electoral guidelines.
The group said: “all election offenders arrested during the Ondo election should be handed over to the police for due prosecution. In addition, security agencies should be more proactive in arresting and prosecuting perpetrators of voters inducement and vote buying.”
The programme Director of the group, Cynthia Mbamalu said “Political parties and candidates should refrain from this persistent and unacceptable culture of impunity and this ugly trend of buying votes and looking for ways to undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
“Political parties should commit to gender-inclusive leadership recruitment by ensuring that women are elected into party leadership positions and elected in party primaries in subsequent elections.”
Also, the group stressed that stakeholders such as INEC, NOA and CSOs should invest in political and voter education to build citizens’ consciousness on the importance of democracy and the value of the vote.
Yiaga Africa also urged Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa and the APC supporters to be magnanimous in their victory.
Besides, the group called on all candidates, political parties, and Nigerians to display political maturity and uphold peace, even as it commended the INEC on the timely opening of polls with essential materials present and the timely announcement of results
Also, Yiaga Africa commended the people of Ondo for their resilience and dedication to conducting a non-violent election, even as it encouraged them to engage in democratic process even after the elections by ensuring that elected officials are held accountable for their campaign promises.
“Now that the elections are over, it is time to rededicate ourselves to the service of our dear state. I therefore want to extend a hand of fellowship to the opposition parties and to invite you to collaborate with us in the onerous task of building a better Ondo State for the overall good of our people. Let us put aside our differences and work together to create a brighter future for ourselves, our children, and our communities,” he said.
In the estimation of many commentators, the election which was conducted between two gladiators who had both served as deputy to the late former governor of the state, Late Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was a show of shame considering the vote buying that characterized it.
Assuming the winner emerged with little or no record of vote trading, it would have been a remarkable victory considering the total number of votes he garnered which was put at 366,781 as against the PDP’s 117,845.
Analysts argue that at the end of the day, the people of Ondo State have chosen who rules them in the next four years and it behoves the winner to ensure that all his campaign promises are well implemented for the good of the people and overall development of the sunshine state.
