Group Doubts Credibility Of Ekiti Gov. Poll, As New Tactics To Vote Buying Surfaced

Another dimension to vote buying was experienced on Saturday during the governorship election in Ekiti state.

Investigations revealed that party agents used numbered slips instead of cash for vote buying  during the election. 

This is just as the Action Group Renewal Organization (AGRO) Nigeria expressed concerns over the credibility and integrity of the governorship election in Ekiti State, alleging widespread irregularities in the issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the exercise.

There are indications that some voters in the ongoing governorship election in

 Ekiti State are selling their votes at the polling units where they are queuing to exercise their franchise.

It was observed across multiple polling units in Emure-Ekiti and Ose-Ekiti Local Government Areas, with incidents consistent with vote-buying at several polling units.

Party agents were seen asking voters to display their marked ballot papers as proof of voting preference. 

Rather than distributing cash directly at the polling units, some agents issued numbers to voters after they cast their ballots.

The purpose of the numbers could not be independently verified by this newspaper. 

However, the practice was observed repeatedly across some of the polling units visited, with voters receiving numbers after showing their ballot papers to party agents.