Yiaga Africa, an election observer group in Africa, says it will deploy 500 polling observers, under its “Watching The Vote” project, in the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group’s Programme Manager, Elections, Mr Paul James, disclosed this at a workshop, organised for leaders of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the state.
He said that Yiaga Africa would be selected from the sampled 250 polling units in all the local government areas of the state.
James urged the CSOs to be more proactive than reactive, since there was still a window before the governorship election.
He called on the CSOs to engage the citizens and other stakeholders to ensure that the election was hitch-free.
The programme manager urged the CSOs to intensify voter education before the election on how to curb vote buying during election.
According to him, vote buying starts in the build-up to election, adding that it is heart breaking that the problem has persisted in the state.
“The fear is that we are going to see more of vote buying in the coming election in the state.
“When people sell their votes, they don’t have moral right to question whoever emerges through that process.
“Instead of collecting those peanuts, they should rather ask the politicians to use the money for development purpose,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CSOs at the workshop condemned vote buying during elections, but called on citizens to promote election transparency in the state.
ALSO READ:Investment in human capital devt. key to Ekiti’s future – Dep. Gov
They promised to increase voter participation in the
forthcoming governorship election.
