Election observers under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) election observation hub have raised concerns over incidents of vote-buying and voter intimidation during the ekiti State off-cycle governorship election despite describing the overall electoral process as largely peaceful and orderly.
The observers was made this known to Journalists in a Joint Situational Statement delivered at AB Events Centre in Ado-Ekiti.
The observation team made up of Yiaga Africa TAF Africa the Kukah Centre Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) International Press Centre (IPC) and Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) disclosed that about 598 observers were deployed across polling units in all the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State to monitor the election process.
According to the report election materials and officials arrived early in many polling units across the state while accreditation and voting commenced on schedule in most locations
The report stated that out of 250 sampled polling units officials and election materials arrived early in about 75 percent of polling units before 7:30am while voting commenced by 8:30am in approximately 69 percent of the observed locations the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was also said to be satisfactory in many polling units
However the observers identified some operational issues including inconsistencies in ballot information and result sheets
On inclusiveness the report noted that the election process was largely accessible to women persons with disabilities (PWDs) and vulnerable groups Women were observed actively participating as election officials party agents and voters.
The EU-SDNG observers also commended the relatively peaceful atmosphere across the state noting that security personnel were adequately deployed to maintain law and order at polling centres
The observation team urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address technical issues involving BVAS ensure proper transmission of election results and uphold transparency throughout the collation process
They assured residents that monitoring would continue throughout voting collation and declaration of results before a final post-election report would be released
