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POLITICSHeavy AnalysisLessons from Ekiti Gubernatorial Election

By Leo Ezekiel

The gubernatorial election in Ekiti State has come and gone, it also left some lessons for critical stakeholders in the Nigerian democratic project.

 Despite the tension and threats that preceded the election, the exercise was generally peaceful. 

It would be recalled that the situation did become worrisome when the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the State Abdul Ganiyu Raji did say that it identified 299 flashpoints among polling units in the build-up to the election.

But observers have attributed the violence-free exercise to the deployment of over 60,000 police men and civil defense operatives in addition to other security forces of all stripes to maintain law and order during the election. 

However, less impressive was the use of the security operatives, who were not only alleged to have tear-gassed the Governor Ayodele Fayose and dispersed PDP supporters from holding rally but, also arrested, intimidated and placed some PDP big wigs under house arrest. 

With less than seven months to the 2019 general elections pundits say the use of security agents to hound perceived political foes of the Muhammadu Buhari regime portends danger and will send a bad signal to the International Community. Clement Nwankwo Convener of Situation Room, a coalition of over 70 civil society organizations expressed these fears at a parley with the INEC. 

Even more wornsome in the Ekiti election was increasing of vote buying a heavy troubling drawback noticed during the last gubernatorial elections in Ondo, Edo and Anambra states just like the previous three governorship elections, heavy vote buying characterized the Ekiti election as major contenders emerged in naked supremacy duel, using monies to curry voters favor for votes under watchful eyes of security agents. 

The two major political parties in Ekiti state are PDP and APC were the most visible in the vote buying exercise code named “Operation see and buy” while the PDP was said to have bribed each voter with N4,000,00 each APC paid between N6,000.00 and N10,000.00. 

A chieftain of SDP and former Minister of Education Prof. Tunde Adeniran attributed his party’s loss in the just conducted election to its inability to engage in vote-buying like other parties did. Adeniran concurred that the SDP candidate Akin Ayebusi would have won the election if the two major political parties – PDP and APC had not involved to inducing the electorate. 

His words”If there was no see and buy” SDP would have won the election, because people were anxious to have an alternative to the two parties, APC and PDP adding that Ekiti people preferred SDP. “The down-trodden masses loved our manifesto and philosophy because they could connect with us, especially with the Late Chief Mko Abiola experience. 

We are the only party that is ideological in terms of philosophy, orientation and the policies we intended to pursue “We lost because we did not have the monies to purchase votes like other parties and the people have been pauperized, so they scavenge for what anyone brings”. 

But we don’t believe in such, We believe in the masses voting according to their consciences. Prof. Adeniran’s allegations were corroborated by a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti state during the first tenure of Fayose, Surveyor Abiodun Aluko who was also the gubernatorial candidate of the Accord party (AP) in the July 14 election adding that the two major parties engaged in a stiff neck competition to out do each other in giving honey, milk, and sugar in the hands of electorate. 

Experts have expressed concerns that the electoral body is yet to find an antidote to votes buying despite the heavy assurances by the commission that such incidences would not rear its ugly head in the just concluded Ekiti state governorship prior to last Saturday’s exercise INEC National Commissioner supervising Ekiti state Solomon Soyebi had said that the commission had put measures in place to checkmate vote buying that woven previous elections. 

Yes, the Ekiti state governorship election has actually come and gone, but, however, Lots of lessons have been learnt from it because it has become a litmus test for 2019 general elections which is very much around the corner and all presidential candidates of political parties should in earnest wake up from their deep slumber and begin to do the needful for the down-trodden masses who are in large numbers and they shall be the voters. 

The INEC press officer Ugboja accredited 596 journalists both electionic and print across the federation.-