Ekiti election: CDD reveals fears for guber poll

By Joseph Ayinde

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has expressed fears that Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State is likely to be characterised by violence, monetisation of the process and abuse of power.

It warned that the conduct of the gubernatorial election could have significant consequences for the democratic trajectory of Nigeria, since the election is the first to be conducted under the recently amended Electoral Act, 2022.

The CDD, however, stated that the credibility of the election would depend on how well the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) uses some of its new powers derived from the extant electoral law.

The Chairman of CDD’s Election Analysis Centre (CDD EAC), Prof. Adele Jinadu, stated this in his presentation during the organisation’s pre-election briefing in Abuja on Friday.

He said, “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 god-fatherism in the election.”

Meanwhile, 988,923 are expected to vote in Saturday’s governorship poll in the 16 LGAs and 177 registration areas, according to INEC.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are the leading contenders in today’s election.