The much anticipated governorship election in Ekiti State may have come and gone but the lessons are here to stay.
Recall that the election was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday, July 14, 2018. While other parties and candidates participated, the contest was strictly between the incumbent Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka who contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Minister of Mines and Steels Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who contested under the All Progressives Congress, (APC).
Despite occurrences of irregularities as pointed out by both local and international observers, the election was adjudged peaceful. By 3 pm on that Saturday, voting was already concluded and sorted in some polling units.
On Sunday, INEC declared the APC’s candidate, Kayode Fayemi winner of the election having polled a total of 197, 459 to defeat his closest rival, Olusola-Eleka who polled a total of 178,121 votes.
On Wednesday, INEC sealed Fayemi’s victory by presenting him a certificate of return as executive governor-elect of the state.
Come October 16 when incumbent governor, Ayodele Fayose’s tenure expires, Fayemi will be sworn-in as Executive Governor of the state for a second term.
TheNewsGuru.com presents a bit-by-bit account of the election and lessons to be learnt for the upcoming Osun governorship election in September and the general elections in 2019.
The Good:
Despite the intense media battle between both camps, the election was generally adjudged peaceful.
The incumbent governor, Ayodele Fayose whom people thought might cause a stir, was not even seen on the election day, apart from when he voted in his polling unit. So were the gubernatorial candidates who conducted themselves in a decent and peaceful manner.
Though criticisms trailed the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel to the state, however, investigations revealed that their presence added to the peaceful conduct of the election.
The Bad:
Though the election was adjudged peaceful, activities (inter and intra party) leading to the election wasn’t.
The road leading to the choice of a flagbearer for both parties was bloodstained. The APC primary was marred by violence and was subsequently postponed to ease tensions. During one of the APC governorship rally, one of the former aspirant, Opeyemi Bamidele was shot.
It is also on record that the convoy of the then APC governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi killed a police inspector who was due for promotion the following week. This was during one of the rallies organised by the party.
The PDP primaries, though peaceful was alleged to be masterminded to favour incumbent governor’s anointed candidate and deputy governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka. The move, however, did not go down well with other aspirants who immediately decamped to form alliance with the APC.
The Ugly:
Open/secret vote buying trend
One of the major setbacks that characterized the 2018 Ekiti governorship election and others conducted earlier in Ondo and Edo States respectively was the shameful act of vote buying by most of the politicians and political parties.
Votes are no longer based on conscience or conviction but about the highest bidder. This may threaten the credibility of the forthcoming general elections in 2019.
Meanwhile, a coalition of domestic and international election observers accredited to observe the July 14 governorship poll in Ekiti State Wednesday reported that the election fell short of global best practices and electoral standards.
The observers, who comprised representatives from over 50 domestic organisations, human rights groups and international election observer bodies, based their report on lapses noticed in the conduct of the election, especially the role of security agencies.
The observers include Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness, Nigeria; Justice and Equity Organisation, Nigeria; International Republican Institute, United States of America; and Patriotic Women Foundation, Abuja, as well as the other bodies from the African Unions, among others.
The observers, who praised INEC for the proper conduct of the poll in line with global and constitutional dictates and standards, faulted the deployment of 30,000 policemen for the election.
The observers stated that the conduct of some of the security operatives and unwholesome practices of vote buying — where voters surreptitiously showed which party they voted to party agents who went behind to settle them, largely marred the electoral process.
They also said the election was characterised by ballot box snatching, sporadic shootings and driving away of some party agents as well as intimidation, oppression and forceful influence of electorate’s free will, among others.
The observers, therefore, held that the July 14 poll could not be recommended as a template for the forthcoming 2019 general elections as it fell short of global standards and spelt doom.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of the domestic observers, Gabriel Nwambu, of the Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness, Abuja, said, “The exercise witnessed a high level of unprecedented electoral related challenges and such abuse will remain contentious until justice prevails, especially in the areas of cash inducement, arrests of political stalwarts by security agents and snatching of electoral materials by political thugs, among other abuses.
“Party agents had huge cash and were close to voting points. Security agents were indifferent to cash inducement of voters. The whole process falls short of the compliance with international best standards.”
One of the International observers, Mrs Virginia Marumoa-Gae, of the IRI, USA, said trouble began at 11 am when “see and buy” started and this caused chaos across all the wards and polling units.
“Voters showed their ballot papers to party agents to collect money, thugs disrupted the voting process by shooting, but the police and other attaching security agents did well by establishing their presence at the polling units as stipulated by the constitution. We also noted that the INEC has improved on card readers this time,” she submitted.
However, despite reporting these irregularities in clear terms, participating political parties in the Ekiti governorship election and others earlier conducted in Ondo, Anambra and Edo states have denied engaging in vote buying.
Notwithstanding, election umpire, INEC have decided to investigate the vote buying allegations with a promise to make public its findings.