The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR) has said it observed rampant instances of vote buying with bread, gala, cash across several polling units in the ongoing Edo State Governorship election.
“Situation Room observers reported widespread instances of blatant vote buying and selling across several polling units, despite the huge presence of security personnel,” the group said in a statement co-signed by Yunusa Z. Ya’u, Mimidoo Achakpa and Franklin Oloniju.
The group said the price of votes ranged from N5,000 t0 N10,000 and in some cases, food items like bread were handed to the electorate.
“The price of votes ranged from N5,000 to N10,000 per voter in several locations, including PU08 and 09 Ward 2, Owan-East LGA; PU 02 Ward 2, 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,” the group said.
The group, however, acknowledged the arrest of the alleged two vote traders in George Idah Primary School, Ward 2, Oredo Local Government Area.
The Situation Room commended the peaceful conduct of voters and urged them to remain calm throughout the process.
The Situation Room is made up of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) including Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD-West Africa), YIAGA Africa, are TAF Africa.
A Labour Party supporter lamented that his friends jumped ship and voted for the party with most money. He identified the political parties as PDP and APC and confirmed that the APC paid more for votes.
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