An election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa has condemned in very strong terms, the observed incidents of vote-buying in the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, which characterized the election as a major threat to the credibility of the electoral process.

According to the Yiaga Africa, this practice promotes electoral corruption, erodes quality in election competition and undermines the legitimacy of electoral victory.

Ezenwa Nwagwu, Chair for the 2024 Ondo Election Mission, Yiaga Africa, while addressing journalists on Sunday in Akure, however, called on political parties to refrain from the culture of commercialization of elections in Nigeria and invest rather in practices that enhance trust in the elections.

Yiaga Africa said; ?election offenders arrested during the Ondo election should be handed over to the police for due prosecution. In addition, security agencies should be more proactive in arresting and prosecuting perpetrators of voter inducement and vote buying.

?Political parties and candidates should encourage issue-based participation in elections and invest in building political parties that uphold democratic principles and promote electoral integrity.

?Political parties should commit to gender-inclusive leadership recruitment by ensuring that women are elected into party leadership positions and elected in party primaries in subsequent elections.

?Stakeholders such as INEC, NOA and CSOs should invest in political and voter education to build citizens consciousness on the importance of democracy and the value of the vote,? he bsaid.

Speaking on the deployment and professionalism of polling officials and security during the election, Yiaga Africa said the security personnel that were present in all polling units observed were unprofessional and partisan in 7 per cent of polling units.

Nwagwu, Chair for the 2024 Ondo Election Mission, Yiaga Africa, however, urged governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and all APC supporters to be magnanimous in their victory and called on all candidates, political parties and Nigerians to display political maturity and uphold peace.

?Yiaga Africa commends INEC on the timely opening of polls with essential materials present and the timely announcement of results. Yiaga Africa commends the people of Ondo State for their resilience and dedication to conducting a non-violent election,? Nwagwu said. (BusinessDay)

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