Ondo gov: PDP, APC bought votes, says rights group

The Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa (CDD-West Africa), through its Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC), has said that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) bought votes from the electorate for as low as N3,000 and N5,000 respectively during the Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State.

Prof. Victor Adetula, Lead, CDD-EAC Observation Mission Ondo 2024; and Dr. Dauda Garuba, Director, CDD-West Africa, said this in CDD’s EAC preliminary statement on the conduct of the 2024 Ondo State governorship election, presented by Ms Oluseyi Awojulugbe, a member of the CDD-EAC.

The report also said that the election recorded lower incidents of disinformation and information manipulation, also referred to as fake new compared to the recently concluded off-cycle September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

“CDD-EAC notes a lot of instances of vote buying. In Okitipupa LGA, Ward 09, Unit 003 (Irowa, Ilutitun 3), voters were solicited for their votes, with APC allegedly offering ₦10,000 per voter and PDP ₦3,000.

“In Odigbo LGA, Ward 01, Unit 001 (Oja Baale, Agbabu), reports of vote-buying were noted, with APC allegedly offering ₦10,000 and PDP ₦5,000 per voter.

“Our observers also noted that some party agents started transferring money to voters to circumvent having to hold cash. In Ese-Odo, Ward 07, Unit 013 (Tari Ama Zion Ugo Community, Arogbo Ward 2), Vote-buying was observed at this polling unit, with PDP offering ₦3,000 and APC offering ₦5,000 to voters.

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“CDD observers watching the process in Ward 5, PU 001, located at St Johns Primary School, Iba Akoko South East spotted APC leaders writing down the names of those who voted for their candidate.

“Subsequently, a card was given to them and they were instructed to converge at an agreed location where cash would be disbursed to them.

“In Ward 005, PU 001, St Barnabas Primary School, Ifon, CDD-EAC observers saw policemen arguing over money shared by a party stalwart.

“The policemen reportedly frowned that about 10 of them were given N100,000 while only one official from another branch of the armed services allegedly got N15,000,” the report said.

The CDD-EAC said that the vote buying incidents and behaviour of party agents sparked multiple conflicts during the voting process, listing Idanre LGA, Ward 06, PU 004 (Methodist High School), where APC agents were accused of strategically monitoring voters’ choices, a move initially defended by security officials but later curtailed after protests.

The report, however, commended the prompt arrival of electoral officials at polling units (PUs), with 99% of CDD-EAC observers reporting that the INEC officials were at their stations before 8:30am.

Observers also reported cases of rowdiness in the polling environment with some youths disagreeing in some cases about the initiative by poll officials to allow elderly voters to cast their ballots first, leading to the disruption of the process, despite the intervention of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Post Office Premises, Akungba Akoko, Akoko South West.

On disinformation and information manipulation, the report said that the numbers of false narratives, claims and counter claims in the Ondo State governorship election have been relatively low, compared to other recent polls.

It said, “In the campaign period, and on Election Day, 13 claims have so far been reported and fact checked by CDD War Room.

“This is low, compared to the 61 claims reported during the same period in the Edo election, representing a 79% increase between the two elections. While 12 of these claims have been assessed to be either false or misleading, the sole claim peddled on voting day was adjudged to be true.”

Ondo gov: PDP, APC bought votes, says rights group