…as Aiyedatiwa floors opponents
By Godfrey AKON
The All Progressives Congress, APC, consolidated its grip on South West, Sunday, after a resounding victory by its candidate in the Saturday, November 16 Ondo State Governorship Election, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Aiyedatiwa was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Sunday, after winning all 18 Local Government Areas of the state, trouncing his main challenger from the Peoples Democratic Party, Agboola Ajayi.
INEC’s Returning Officer, Prof. Akinwumi Durotimi, while declaring the winner, said Aiyedatiwa polled a total of 366,781 while Ajayi got 117,845 followed by the Labour Party, LP, candidate, Olorunfemi Festus with 1162 votes.
The victory retains a total of four states in the South West geopolitical zone under the grip of the ruling APC with the exception of Osun and Oyo states which are under the PDP.
“Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of lawful votes cast, is hereby returned elected,” Durotimi declared.
Recall that Aiyedatiwa succeeded the late Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on December 27, 2023.
On Saturday while the election was ongoing, the candidate of the PDP, Ajayi, expressed lack of confidence in the process, alleging deliberate attempt to manipulate the electoral process to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
He further alleged that the system had been compromised, adding that the party couldn’t trust the Ondo Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Olatoyin Babalola.
“I think it is deliberate on the part of INEC and the REC. And we’ve said this several times that the woman can’t be fair.
“I have had series of complaints from across the state. People are complaining of vote buying. It is a very shameful exercise,” he said.
Ajayi’s dissatisfaction was corroborated by earlier complaints from his party about BVAS malfunctions and potential bias from INEC officials.
Meanwhile, early assessment by a Civil Society, CSO, observer group,
CLEEN Foundation, praised the deployment of more security personnel on duty.
Acting Executive Director of
CLEEN Foundation, Peter Maduoma, in a statement, said data showed that in about 70 per cent of the polling stations, there were at least 2 security personnel present.
Maduoma however noted that there was a particular report of the absence of security personnel at one of the polling units.
On identification of personnel, he said “The data received at the CLEEN Foundation Election Security Support Centre from field observers showed that all security personnel in all the polling stations wore an easily identifiable name tag which is in compliance with the code of conduct for security personnel on election duty.
“The data across the Local Government Areas in Ondo state as received by the CLEEN Foundation Election Security Support Centre indicate that the majority of the security personnel are of good conduct.
“Almost all the observers deployed in the 18 LGAs reported good conduct of the security personnel. 96% of observers reported that the security personnel were approachable.
“Generally, the BVAS functioned very well however, CLEEN Foundation received a report of BVAS malfunction at Akure North Ward 4 Polling Unit One. The BVAS delayed in capturing the voters using facial ID,” Maduoma said.
He also noted that CLEEN Foundation received reports of vote trading ranging from 5000 to 10,000 naira per vote, adding that the report came from observers at Okitipupa Ward 2 PU 16 and in other areas.
The foundation commended the conduct of security personnel deployed for the election with Civil Society and the Police Service Commission team monitoring the conduct of Police Officers on election duty.
Situation Room report from Yiaga Africa, indicated that in 31 per cent of the polling units observed, voters “had to climb steps or cross over gutters” to access the polling units, which impeded access of voters with disability in the affected locations.
It said “On election security Report from Cleen Foundation observation hub reveals that Security deployment for the election was adequate and proportionate to the number of polling units.
“Situation Room observers reported that security personnel arrived early at the polling units. The Police, in particular, were present in 84% of the polling unit observed at the official opening hour of polls, i.e. 8:30am.
“Security personnel observed at the polling units were generally polite and professional. In polling unit 64, Ward 1 of Odigbo LGA, the security personnel intervened just in time when thugs attempted to disrupt the voting process.
“However, a Policeman was observed attempting to influence voter’s choice in polling unit 15, Ward 3 of Irele LGA which culminated in conflict between accredited party agents.
“Also, the Kimpact Development Initiative mid-day report indicates that 20 incidents of violence have so far been tracked, none of which resulted in disruption of vote except in polling unit 3, Ward 5 in Idanre LGA where party supporters reported fired gunshots at the polling unit.
“Situation Room notes the trend of persistent vote trading during elections in Nigeria. This situation has continued unabatedly, and heightened in this election. It is worrying that, despite the high presence of security personnel at the polling units, vote trading went on openly and unchecked during the voting hours.
“As the election enters the critical stage of vote sorting and collation, Situation Room urges INEC to ensure strict compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act 2022 and its guidelines with respect to collation of election results. Collation of results has remained a problematic issue for INEC as observed in recent off-cycle governorship elections.
“Situation Room welcomes the directive of the Police authority that security of the collation centres will be headed by senior Police officers, including Assistant Commissioners of Police. We therefore expect a smooth and transparent collation process in this election.”
