By Francis Onoiribholo Bureau Chief Benin
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) has assured that it would continue to observe the ongoing governorship election in Edo State with a follow up on the process until the polls are concluded and final results released.
The Situation Room noted that the election has finally taken place amidst pre-election tension and a proliferation of fake news, which contributed to heightened anxiety in the State.
Briefing journalists on its interim reports on the election at the end of voting, Situation Room highlighted its observations in all the areas its observers observed.
According to the election monitoring group,
Reports from our observers indicate that poll officials arrived on time in 50% of the polling units (PUs) observed, and polls opened at the regular hour of 8:30am in only 48.4% of the polling units visited.
“We note some isolated locations where officials arrived as early as 7:00 am, particularly Maria Goretti Girls Secondary School in Ward 6, Ikpoba Okha LGA, and PU 29 in Ward 7 of Esan-West LGA.
“However, in many other locations, poll officials and materials had not arrived as at 9:00 am. For Example, polling units 7 and 8 Eweka Secondary School, Ward 10, Egor LGA were among those affected.
“Furthermore, at the Super Registration Area Centre (Super RAC) in Ogbe Primary School, Oredo LGA, poll officials and materials had not left the Super RAC as at 9:00 am as observers reported that many ad-hoc staff refused to sleep over at the RAC due to fears of possible attacks.
“We note that some polling units in locations such as Egor, Oredo, Ikpoba Okha, Etsako-West, Owan-West, and Esan Central LGAs experienced widespread delays due to the heavy rainfall in these locations”.
On Polling Unit Security Deployment, Situation Room noted that its observers reported that security personnel were present and on time in 92% of the polling units visited, observing that the security agents’ conduct has been largely professional and without any reported incidents of intimidation.
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“However, despite their presence, our observers noted widespread instances of vote buying, carried out openly in many voting locations and we, however, acknowledge the arrest of the alleged two vote traders in George Idah primary school, Ward 2, Oredo LGA”.
On accreditation and voting, observers on the ground reported that the accreditation process was conducted using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), with the device functioning well in 98% of polling units visited.
The group also said, some isolated cases of BVAS failure were reported, including at PU 6, Ward 10, Esan-West LGA, pointing out that the average time for voter accreditation in these units was approximately one minute per voter, while facial recognition authentication performed better than thumbprint authentication.
It also spoke on the presence of Party Agents, saying that party agents were observed in most polling units, with the following distributions:
APC: 41%,
Labour Party: 13%
PDP: 25%
PRP: 5%
with others, Less than 2%
“The party agents have so far conducted themselves in an orderly manner, with proper identification on display, just as We wish to note that party agents were not seen in many of the polling units observed.
Situation Room however frown at what it described as ‘Vote Trading’ disclosing that
observers reported widespread instances of blatant vote buying and selling across several polling units, despite the huge presence of security personnel.
“The price of votes ranged from ₦5,000 to ₦10,000 per voter in several locations, including PU08 and 09 Ward 2, Owan-East LGA; PU 02 Ward Ok2, Etsako-West LGA; and several polling units in Egor, Oredo and Owan-West LGAs. In some cases, voters were also induced with food items such as Bread and
Gala.
Situation Room also spoke on the role Fake News played in the Edo Election, stating that the election environment has been further charged by the spread of fake news, which has contributed to confusion among voters and heightened tension at several polling locations.
“According to the report of Situation Room’s member organization – Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa), there were three major fake news, propagated on the eve of the election, largely affecting the three major political parties”
The Situation Room observed and commended the peaceful conduct of voters throughout the process and urged them to remain so, saying that the Situation Room will continue to observe developments as they unfold and provide a comprehensive report after the exercise.
The Situation Room urged all stakeholders, including INEC, security agencies, and political parties, to ensure the smooth ending of the conduct of the election and to refrain from any acts that could undermine the integrity of the process.
