Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has issued a one-week ultimatum to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to commence investigations into incidents of “vote-buying, undue influence, intimidation, ballot box snatching, and other electoral offences by the three leading political parties in the just concluded Ekiti State governorship election,” IgbereTV reports
This was contained in a memo addressed to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, in the aftermath of the Ekiti governorship elections.
The APC emerged victorious, scoring 187,057 votes to defeat its closest rival, the SDP, which garnered 82,211 votes, and the PDP, which got 67,457 votes.
Kolawole Oluwadare, the SERAP Deputy Director who issued the memo, urged INEC to “promptly and effectively prosecute those arrested, and bring to justice anyone who sponsored, aided and abetted them.
“Corruption of the ballot box intrudes on the freedom of Nigerian voters to make up their own minds. Vote buying and other forms of electoral corruption freeze out the less wealthy candidates and parties.
“Wealthy candidates and their sponsors ought not to be allowed to profit from their crimes. We are concerned that impunity for vote buying and electoral bribery is widely prevalent in Nigeria, as perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.”
The organisation also cautioned that vote-buying encourages poor governance and weakens citizens’ capacity to hold their ‘elected officials’ accountable for their actions.
