The Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa (CDD-West Africa), has said that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) bought votes from the electorates for as low as N3000 and N5000 respectively during the Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State.

The Center through its Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC), revealed further that the APC induced voters with as high as N10, 000 per voter in some local governments.

Prof. Victor Adetula, Lead, CDD-EAC Observation Mission Ondo 2024; and Dr. Dauda Garuba, Director, CDD-West Africa, said this in CDD’s EAC preliminary statement on the conduct of the 2024 Ondo State governorship election.

The preliminary report was presented by Ms Oluseyi Awojulugbe, a member of the CDD-EAC.

The report also said that the election recorded lower incidents of disinformation and information manipulation, also referred to as fake news, compared to the recently concluded off-cycle September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

The report further alleged at some poling units policemen reportedly got N100,000 for 10 officers, while another one received N15,000.

The officers reportedly disagree over the disparity in the fund.

“CDD-EAC notes a lot of instances of vote buying. In Okitipupa LGA, Ward 09, Unit 003 (Irowa, Ilutitun 3), voters were solicited for their votes, with APC allegedly offering ₦10,000 per voter and PDP ₦3,000.

“In Odigbo LGA, Ward 01, Unit 001 (Oja Baale, Agbabu), reports of vote-buying were noted, with APC allegedly offering ₦10,000 and PDP ₦5,000 per voter.

“Our observers also noted that some party agents started transferring money to voters to circumvent having to hold cash.

“In Ese-Odo, Ward 07, Unit 013 (Tari Ama Zion Ugo Community, Arogbo Ward 2), vote-buying was observed at this polling unit, with PDP offering ₦3,000 and APC offering ₦5,000 to voters.

“CDD observers watching the process in Ward 5, PU 001, located at St Johns Primary School, Iba Akoko South East spotted APC leaders writing down the names of those who voted for their candidate.

“Subsequently, a card was given to them and they were instructed to converge at an agreed location where cash would be disbursed to them.

“In Ward 005, PU 001, St Barnabas Primary School, Ifon, CDD-EAC observers saw policemen arguing over money shared by a party stalwart.

“The policemen reportedly frowned that about 10 of them were given N100, 000 while only one official from another branch of the armed services allegedly got N15, 000,” the report said.

The CDD-EAC said that the vote buying incidents and behaviour of party agents sparked multiple conflicts during the voting process.

It listed Idanre LGA, Ward 06, PU 004 (Methodist High School), where APC agents were accused of strategically monitoring voters’ choices, a move initially defended by security officials but later curtailed after protests.

The report, however, commended the prompt arrival of electoral officials at polling units (PUs), with 99% of CDD-EAC observers reporting that the INEC officials were at their stations before 8:30am.

It also reported cases of rowdiness in the polling environment with some youths disagreeing in some cases about the initiative by poll officials to allow elderly voters to cast their ballots first.

This reportedly led to the disruption of the process, despite the intervention of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Post Office Premises, Akungba Akoko, Akoko South West.

On disinformation and information manipulation, the report said that the numbers of false narratives, claims and counter claims in the Ondo State governorship election have been relatively low, compared to other recent polls.

It said, “In the campaign period, and on Election Day, 13 claims have so far been reported and fact checked by CDD War Room. This is low, compared to the 61 claims reported during the same period in the Edo election, representing a 79% increase between the two elections.

“While 12 of these claims have been assessed to be either false or misleading, the sole claim peddled on voting day was adjudged to be true.”

 

In the same vein, the Police Service Commission reported that instances of vote buying were recorded at some polling centres during the Ondo State governorship election.

The PSC, which deployed staff to monitor the conduct of police officers, lamented that vote buying had become a recurring issue in elections across the country.

“There were, however, reports of pockets of vote buying in some voting centres, which have become a recurring issue in elections in the country,” stated Ikechukwu Ani, the Commission’s spokesperson, in its interim report on the election.

Ani, however, commended the security personnel deployed for the election in the state.