Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo will no doubt go down as one of the most peaceful elections in the history of the state, considering the zero violence recorded during the poll.
With the early arrival of voting materials and electoral officials, the election started off on a clean note as the electorate patiently waited for them to arrive.
However, the process was heavily militarised with the presence of military operatives mounting various junctions in many parts of the state.
While monitoring the election, military barricades observed between Akure, the state capital, and Oke-Agbe, headquarters of Akoko North West, numbered no fewer than 30, with stern-looking personnel stopping journalists and election observers.
The situation was tense at Ikare junction in Owo, when the military operatives refused to open the barricaded road for journalists despite the identification tags presented to them.
At the ‘Semu-semu’ roundabout in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North East Local Council Area, some soldiers who were also on the road prevented journalists and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accessing the road for more than 30 minutes. It, however, took the intervention of higher authorities before the soldiers allowed accredited personnel to proceed on their assignment.
Meanwhile, in Owo and Akoko, in the Northern Senatorial District of the state, voters turned out in their numbers for the exercise as they queued up to vote for their preferred candidate.
The large turnout of voters was subsequently discovered to be the result of vote trading observed in the various polling units monitored.
At Unit 10, Ward 1, Edo/Ishakunmi in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North East Local Council, some persons, who were standing in for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were seen inducing voters with N15,000 each. This is just as the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also accused of inducing voters with cash.
Findings also revealed that the funds were distributed to all the wards, with the amount ranging between N35 million and N64 million.
The vote-buying syndrome was made worse by the presence of some neighbouring APC and PDP governors in Ondo, who, under the guise of mobilising indigenes of their states residing in Ondo to vote for candidates of their party, ended up spending money to induce voters.
This is probably a new way of reaching out to voters through the indigenes of other states living in states where an off-cycle election is holding.
While speaking on the situation, a former member of the Ondo State House of Assembly who represented Akoko North East state constituency, Rasheed Elegbeleye, and a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), lamented that elections in Nigeria are now for the highest bidder.
According to Elegbeleye, “The highest bidder won. APC shared N15,000 in this unit. When people heard that they were sharing money, they all trooped out.”
On his part, a former House of Representatives member, Gbenga Elegbeleye, described the election in the unit as peaceful and without rancour.
According to him, “People voted. It was massive, and again, I have to say kudos to INEC for being dutiful and transparent. The turnout is massive. The voters came as early as 7 a.m. There is no vote-buying in this unit, people are voting according to their conscience. Votes here are not for sale. So they voted according to the choice of candidate they wanted to vote for. No inducement. If anybody should be giving, I think it should be me, but I’m not giving it to anybody.”
It was the same scenario at Edo Ward, Igbede Unit 7, Ikare-Akoko Local Council, and polling unit 003, Ibewari 1, Post Office Premises, Ward 14-Oba-Akoko, Akoko South West Local Council Areas of the state, with some agents on the ground to buy votes from the electorate.
However, at polling unit 2, Ward 15, Okede, Baptist Primary School Oba Akoko, Akoko South West, the election did not take place until 12:00 p.m. due to the inability of BIVAS to capture voters because of the weather condition in the area.
While commending INEC officials for arriving early for the exercise, the Minister for Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who exercised his franchise at Ward 03, Unit 17 Court Hall/Igafo/Araoye in Akoko North West LGA, said: “Akoko North West is never a troublesome place.
“In the 2023 election, there was no cancellation of any polling unit. In the 2024 by-election, there was none, in 2019 there was none. So, we are peaceful people, we believe in democratic tenets. We allow people to come and cast their votes, we allow people to decide. You can see that the atmosphere is calm, it’s more of a celebration.
“INEC has been fantastic because so far, I got calls as early as 7 a.m. that they were already in the polling unit. So, the preparedness seems to be top-notch.”
But while Tunji-Ojo denied incidents of vote-buying, candidate of the Zenith Labour Party, Abbas Mimiko, and Deputy Governorship candidate of PDP, Festus Akingbaso, alleged that APC was inducing voters with cash.
Mimiko, who cast his vote at Open Space under Mango Tree Unit 020, Ondo West Local Council, was livid when he challenged INEC officials and police authorities that they were abetting vote-buying at his polling unit, just as Akingbaso, whose popularity outshines that of APC State chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and Dr. Pius Akinyelure in Idanre, alleged that APC did not only do vote-buying but also instigated thugs to disrupt the voting exercise in the area.
To further justify the allegations of vote-buying, it was alleged that DSS officials apprehended a male suspect at Ward 4, Polling Unit 007, outside St. Stephen’s Primary School, Akure, Ondo State. The suspect was said to have been apprehended with two bags of money meant to be used to induce voters during the election.
But the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ondo State, Mr. Steve Otaloro, debunked claims that the ruling party sent thugs to Ofosun in Idanre Local Government Area to disrupt the governorship election.
The party spokesperson said information reaching them indicated that there is “nothing like that.”
In a similar vein, Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Otaloro, said: “I’m in the APC situation right now. Let me say first and foremost, the person you mentioned is the deputy governorship candidate of Agboola Ajayi of the PDP. And if you recall, PDP had a press conference two days ago alleging that the kind of violence that took place in that place was by APC. All the places he mentioned, was he on the ground in all those places? He was supposed to be at his polling unit; even if he was called, he should have done proper diligence to be on the ground.”
Abiola Makinde, director-general for the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation, also said he was not aware of any vote-buying nor violence in the election.
He said INEC and security officials were wonderful and that the electorate conducted themselves in a seamless manner.
However, as of 7 p.m., INEC had already loaded over 90 percent of the results across the 18 local governments on its IREV, while the electorate expected the commission to declare the final winner.