How votes were bought for N500 during Kogi election — CDD

Yusuf Bello| The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) Election Analysis Centre (EAC) CDD-EAC on Saturday said voters received as low as N500 to sell their votes in the Kogi governorship election.

This is according to the preliminary report on the conduct of the election by CDD Director Idayat Hassan and CDD Senior Fellow, Prof. Ibrahim Jibrin.

According to the report, in many polling units, observers and journalists were blocked from access and taking photographs in what appears to be an attempt to prevent the gathering of evidence of electoral malpractices.

The report further stated that CDD EAC observers reported coordinated disruption of voting across many polling units with hired thugs invading Polling Units, shooting sporadically to scare away voters, and in several cases carting away voting materials.

The report said, “In our report on Friday, we noted the extensive use of financial inducements to affect the outcome of the elections as election officials were offered $1,000 each to buy their conscience. Today (Saturday), we noted direct financial incentives to voters who were offered money before and after voting.

“Notwithstanding that INEC enlisted the EFCC and the ICPC to assist in curtailing vote-buying, vote-buying was very rampant across the state. CDD observers reported that party agents in several polling units engaged in the financial inducement of voters to influence them to vote for the parties. The cost of a vote ranges between N500 and N3,000.”

The report also said that the heavy presence of security was not enough as a countermeasure to deter trouble makers bent on using violence to subvert the process, with observers and journalists harassed and attacked in several instances.

According to CDD Director Idayat Hassana, CDD observer was injured in Ayingba Ward 004 with a broken bottle, while one of their media partners was harassed and his phone seized for trying to take a picture off the APC senatorial candidate giving money to two older women who stood by his convoy.

She said voters were also followed into the voting cubicles and forcefully coerced, to vote for candidates against their wishes, thus undermining the integrity of the electoral process.