From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), has pinpointed hurdles capable of truncating Ekiti State governorship election, slated June 18.
Chairman, CDD Election Analysis Centre (EAC), Professor Adele Jinadu, at press briefing yesterday in Abuja, noted that violence, vote buying and violations of incumbency powers would likely play key roles in the exercise.
Jinadu argued that the observation stemmed from pockets of violence that characterised the electioneering process in Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Oye, Ido/Osi and Oye Ekiti.
He said: “The CDD EAC is concerned about violence, money politics and violations of incumbency powers and the possible effects of these on the credibility of the election.
“CDD EAC notes that Ekiti State, has recorded several incidents of violence during previous elections.
“In the build up to the 2022 governorship election, pockets of election-related violence have been recorded in places like Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Oye, Ido/Osi and Oye Ekiti.
“Other observable issues, which would shape the credibility of the election include; how well INEC is able to effectively deploy technology, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), impartial security provisioning, the quality of results management, curtailing the role of money, incumbency and godfatherism in the election.
“In terms of some of the election risk factor, CDD notes that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU) has crippled the local economy especially in university towns in Ekiti State.
“This has created a threat in terms of the availability of idle youth being recruited for activities, which could undermine the credibility of the election.
“By grounding the local economy, the strike has also created the wrong incentives as voters are more likely to see the election as an opportunity for economic survival, thereby exacerbating the risk of vote buying.”
Regardless, he noted that the organisation would keenly monitor the exercise and collect data to support evidence-based analysis of key aspects of the Ekiti State governorship election.
According to him, CDD EAC will also host a fake news hub for the purpose of tracking and countering fake news and misinformation as it affects the election.
“Also critical is the need for stakeholders in the election to proactively track, and counter fake news and misinformation.
“Already, the pre-election period has witnessed the spread of fake news capable of undermining voter confidence and participation in the process.
“An example is the fake news which trended recently on a purported Appeal Court decision nullifying the primaries of one of the major political parties and, by extension, its candidate,” he added.