Ekiti Guber Fall-Out: Civil Society Coalition Condemns Vote-Buying

BY ABIODUN NEJO

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on access to polling units for Persons Living With Disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Situation Room, a coalition of civil society organisations, also advised INEC to improve on the functionality and processing time of the Smart Card Reader ahead of the 2019 elections.

Its convener, Clement Nwankwo, who spoke while giving Situation Room Interim Report on Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State, praised the electoral body for noticeable improvement in the conduct of the election.

He, however, called on INEC to improve on the secrecy of the balloting process as a means of addressing vote buying.

Situation Room praised Ekiti State people for coming out to vote in the governorship election and “conducting themselves peacefully, despite the apprehension that preceded the election due to the actions of some individuals and institutions, including fears of over-policing”.

“Situation Room calls on citizens of Ekiti State to remain peaceful and urges all persons aggrieved with the outcome of the election to follow the legal process in seeking remedies”

The coalition, while praising the Nigeria Police for the improved conduct of its personnel during the elections, called on the law enforcement agency “to be proactive in the enforcement of the provisions of the Electoral Act to reduce violations of the law, especially vote buying”.

Nwankwo said: “While we recognize the security challenges in the country, the Situation Room continues to question the heavy military deployment and involvement in elections. We also note the broad composition of the security agencies in the election and are worried about such developments when Nigeria should be working towards a more civil security approach to elections.

“The worrying trend of vote buying escalated to desperate levels, with the major political parties sharing blames. This trend portends grave danger to Nigeria’s democracy, as it undermines the responsibility of citizens to freely choose their leaders and threatens the essence of democracy.

“Vote buying represents a major setback to the gains made with Nigeria’s electoral process and denies Citizens the power to hold elected official accountable and responsive to the needs and aspirations of Nigerians. Vote buying is also a threat to the emergence of women as elected representatives with the increasing cost of electoral politics.

“Situation Room calls for urgent legislative action and law enforcement to tackle the challenge of vote buying in Nigeria’s elections,” Nwankwo said.

The Situation Room is made up of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria and includes such groups as Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD),Enough is Enough Nigeria, Wangonet, Partners for Electoral Reform, JDPC, Proactive Gender Initiative and Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA), CWAE, NISD.

Others are Development Dynamics, Human Rights Monitor, Election Monitor, Reclaim Naija, Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Alliance for Credible Election (ACE), CITAD, Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), CISLAC, WREP, Nigerian Women Trust Fund and several other CSOs numbering more than 70.