Tag: Ekiti election

Last Saturday’s election in Ekiti State was a much closer contest between the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), unlike the situation in June, last year  few  months during the gubernatorial election reports SEUN AKIOYE.

Not a few Nigerians expected the Presidential and National Assembly Elections in Ekiti state to be violent even though there will be no gubernatorial elections there on April 11, 2015. This position was further reinforced when several studies and independent analysis posited the state as one of the flashpoints for violence.

The stakes in Ekiti are high. The governor, Ayodele Fayose, only five months ago rode to power on the back of his acclaimed local populism and provincial credentials. In the election that brought him to Oke Ayoba Government House, he won by a landslide. Thus, he was expected to also help deliver the state to his political party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in similar manner.

Also, in the build up to the election, Governor Fayose has been most vociferous in his campaign for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan. While many would describe his method as “devilish” and unconventional, Fayose insisted he had no regrets for his unabashed support for the president.

It was this scenario that set the mood for the Presidential election in Ekiti state. On Thursday, 26th March, 2015, Fayose in rounding off his campaign to the Ekiti people boasted on the Ekiti state radio that the election would be a landslide for the PDP. That sentiment was also shared by top members of the party.

However, around the state, there were ominous sign that the election would not be a walk over for the ruling party.  The sign around the different local governments visited by The Nation revealed that the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) would not be railroaded as suggested by the governor. Former governor of the state, Otunba Niyi Adebayo told The Nation in Iyin on the eve of the election that the party was more prepared than the ruling party in sensitization of the voters.

He said: “We are more than prepared; we have done everything possible, we have campaigned, we have gone round the state, much more than the people we are contesting against, we have educated the voters, our level of preparedness is very high. We honestly believe that given a level playing field, we have no doubt that the APC should win all the elections here in Ekiti.”

The aggressive campaign by the APC towards Saturday’s presidential election could serve several purposes but chief among that is to reconnect with the people and restore the confidence lost during the gubernatorial election.  That may also have been the reason why even though the party lost all the 16 local governments to the PDP, it was not with the landslide the ruling party expected, the APC came in a respectable second position in the elections.

Election generally peaceful, despite fracas

Despite the threat of violence, residents of the state came out early for accreditation in many of the local governments monitored by The Nation.  The general conduct of the election was also peaceful, but there was always the threat of violence and disruptions. Early in the morning, former governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi had set up a command post in his home in Isan Ekiti. Around 10: am, he received a report about a shooting in Ikere Ekiti by persons associated with the Deputy Governor. Dr. Olubunmi Olusola- Ereka.

But Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communication and New Media, Mr. Lere Olayinka denied that the Deputy Governor was implicated in the shooting. But investigations conducted by The Nation at the trouble spot in Ikere-Ekiti revealed that the victim was taken from Ikere General Hospital to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital in Ado Ekiti.

A doctor who preferred anonymity said: “The man was brought to the hospital around 1: pm, he was shot in the back. We have treated him and he is in a stable condition,” he said. Apart from Ikere, there were pockets of violence in some wards and local governments especially in Gboyin where hoodlums disrupted voting in five polling units.

In the state capital, there were no reports of violence or electoral malpractice and the same pattern was replicated in many of the local government. Former Governor Fayemi told The Nation that despite pockets of violence, the election should be smooth.

But even though voting was concluded early in many of the polling stations, results did not come into the INEC collation center until Sunday morning. The Nation correspondent who spent the night at INEC headquarters reports that at the Registration Area Centers (RAC), results were being collated into the early morning.

Journalists were not the only parties interested in getting the results early, members of Governor Fayose’s media team were also on the prowl in many of the RAC to collate results on Saturday night. One of the aides who spoke to The Nation said it was to prevent any fraudulent activities regarding the final results.

Not a walk over

When the results began to come in, many were surprised at the showing of the APC.  For instance, in Ifelodun Irepodun local government, the home of APC chieftain Niyi Adebayo and former Labour party gubernatorial candidate, Opeyemi Bamidele and incumbent governor, Fayose, the PDP defeated the APC by just 3,425 votes. This should be a surprise because of the strong presence of Gov. Fayose.

Another surprising outcome is from Emure local government where the difference is 1,469 votes. Even more unanticipated is Ilejemeje local government where the PDP led by a mere 799 votes.  But the PDP had a field day in Ikere and Ado Ekiti where the PDP trounced the APC 14,091 to 7,990 and 25,411 to 14, 414 in Ikere and Ado Ekiti respectively. The Ikere case is hardly surprising since the deputy governor is said to be “on ground”. But some APC sympathizers claimed that the shooting in the area may have had an effect on the outcome.

However, there were cases of electoral fraud in some wards as reported by the collating officers. For instance in Moba, hoodlums came to seven polling stations in Osan with guns and attacked the Electoral officers. The election was cancelled in seven units.

In Oye local government, there was a case of over voting in unit 11, ward 11. The number of accredited voters was 299 but the number of recorded votes was 403. In Ikere, the collating officer declined to write a report on the violence claiming it happened before the election. “There was no report of any incident and the celebrated incident happened in ward 6 unit 2 before the election began,” he said.

In Emure, ward 6, unit 6, there was a case of over voting, where 188 was accredited 191 votes recorded. Also there was attack by hoodlums who kicked the ballot boxes forcing the votes to be cancelled.

Also in Gboyin, five polling units were cancelled in Aiyesogba when hoodlums attacked midway into the election. In Ekiti East, there was a case of over voting in two polling units in ward 6, with the number of accredited voters being 262 and votes recorded 269.

There was however a moment of tension when the collating officer for Ijero local government, Francis Adebayo came late to the collating center claiming that he almost lost his life to some overzealous security officials. Adebayo came to INEC without the original white result sheet claiming the Electoral Officer in charge of Ijero had seized it.

According to some of the witnesses, trouble began when Polling Unit officers began to protest over unpaid allowances causing commotion. Adebayo, who returned with the duplicate result sheet, said he barely escaped with his life when security officers refused to provide him security to return to Ado Ekiti.

However, the returning officer for the PDP in Ijero, Retd General Joseph Ayeni disputed Adebayo’s claim. “There was no commotion in Ijero but a disagreement. Every security officer wanted a copy of the result, nobody even touched the collating officer,” he said.

The returning officer of the APC and former chairman of the local government, Hon. Ojo Atibioke corroborated Ayeni’s position. “There was no fighting and it is unfortunate that the collating officer was saying he was almost gunned down. Trouble began when the security officers began to demand for duplicate copies of the report, but there was no fighting,” he said.

However, the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Ekiti, Sam Olumekun gave a pass mark on the conduct of the election describing it as “successful and a wonderful exercise.” On the pockets of violence, he said they were not sufficient enough to affect the outcome of the election. He also said INEC is about to retrieve the white result sheet from the electoral officer.