Preamble:
The Ekiti state Gubernatorial election, one of the off-season elections in Nigeria’s electoral calendar held on June 18TH 2022.
As part of its mandate and contribution towards strengthening the democratic process the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) trained and deployed 50 citizen observers to the field covering the entire state. This preliminary statement therefore represents our initial observations on the conduct of the election.
Time of arrival of INEC Officials and materials
Our field observers report indicated that polling officials arrived early in most of the polling units, with many of the polling units opening around 8.30am This is an indication of improvement with regards to election logistics arrangement on the part of INEC. We hope this improvement will be consolidated upon and carried into the 2023 general elections.
Time of commencement of accreditation and voting
Reports from our observers in the field indicate that voter accreditation and voting started on time in most of the polling units observed. While there were hitches in a few polling units, our observers report indicated that about 80% of polling units opened on time.
BVAS Performance
Compared to other states were BVAS was deployed, reports from the field indicate that the BVAS performed very well in the Ekiti elections with voter accreditation taking between 2 to 3 minutes on the average.
Performance/Conduct of INEC Officials CTA notes with satisfaction the performance of INEC officials during the election. In most of the polling units covered by our observers, polling officials exhibited professionalism and knowledge of their duties,
Time of arrival and Conduct of Security Agents
Our observers report indicate that security agents generally arrived promptly at the polling units and were professional in their conducts especially in the maintenance of law and order. We further observed that there was synergy and networking among the various security agencies. However, there were pockets of complaints about the welfare of the deployed security agents.
Voter turnout
From our observers’ report, voter turnout was generally impressive. We therefore commend the Ekiti electorates for their enthusiastic turnout.
Conduct of Political Party Agent/Voters (Vote buying and vote selling)
Regrettably, our observers reported that the phenomenon of vote buying that is fast becoming a major feature of our democracy was manifest during this election. Our observers also reported parties paying as much as N7000 for votes while in some instances packs of Sphagetti and Semovita were shared to voters. It is heartwarming to observe that some culpable party agents were arrested by the agents of EFCC. INEC, the Security Agencies and other stakeholders need to work out measures to effectively address this ugly phenomenon.
Violence
The report from the field indicates that the voting process was generally peaceful except for pockets of violence is some polling units
Conclusion
In conclusion, the CTA commends the INEC, security agencies and the good people of Ekiti state for playing their part towards the growth and development of our democracy.
Faith Nwadishi
Executive Director CTA