As Osun votes tomorrow
Tomorrow’s governorship election in Osun State is a litmus test for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the challenge of halting vote-buying that has contaminated the integrity of elections conducted in recent times. A negative phenomenon that attracted an outcry after Edo State governorship election in September 2016, vote-buying was done with uncanny boldness during the Anambra polls in November 2017. But its full manifestation was seen during the governorship election in Ekiti State in July this year and subsequent bye-elections in Kogi, Bauchi and Katsina States.
Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, is not ignorant of this challenge. In order to deal with a situation in which voters take snapshots of ballot papers as evidence that they voted for a particular party and subsequently go to party agents to be paid, Professor Yakubu has announced a ban on the use of smartphones and cameras at polling booths before and after casting votes. He said, “The menace of vote buying is now a new concept in our electoral system, and I can assure you that the commission will rise to these challenges…We are restricting its (smartphones’) usage from the time a voter gets ballot paper and casts his vote, in which the device will be returned thereafter.”
Furthermore, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu a fortnight ago warned politicians and voters against vote-buying because it is a criminal act that is punishable under the law. In the Electoral Act, Section 124 subsection (a) states that paying money to any other person for bribery at any election attracts conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both. Subsection (b) says that receiving any money or gift for voting or to ‘refrain’ from voting at any election attracts a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for 12 months or both.
Apart from the issue of vote-buying, Saturday’s election in Osun State will put on trial INEC’s capacity to conduct a transparent election where there are multiple political parties. As at Wednesday, INEC has confirmed that 48 political parties will field governorship candidates in the election. The ballot paper will be very long as it must bear the logo of each of the political parties. Unless proper voter education is conducted before Saturday, there is the likelihood of thousands of voided ballot papers as a result of poor thump-printing, especially if the space on the ballot papers that demarcates one political party from another is not wide enough.
Though there are 48 candidates in the election, the three main contenders for the Osun governorship are Adegboyega Isiaka Ayetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The success of Osun governorship election depends largely on how these candidates comport themselves. The activities of these parties in the last few weeks have shown that each one of them is desperate about winning the election. Also, the headquarters of these frontline political parties tend to see the outcome of the election as a sign of their fate in 2019 presidential elections, and have behaved in a manner that exposes their desperation to ‘capture’ Osun state. We call on all contestants in the election to abide by the rules of the game and to ensure that the will of the people prevails. An election should not be a do-or-die affair.
It is worth commending the police and other security outfits because they have mobilised their men and officers to ensure law and order during the polls. We call on them to be at alert and demonstrate impartiality in carrying out their duties. A situation in which security agencies demonstrate bias by providing cover for electoral fraud is a disservice to the nation. Nigerians are monitoring the success or otherwise of Osun governorship election.