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Edo Decides 2020

EDO ELECTION: APC, PDP inducing voters with money, gift items —Yiaga Africa

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Yiaga africa

Ahead of the Saturday governorship election in Edo, the state’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the major opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been accused of violating electoral guidelines.

Yiaga Africa, a citizen-led Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Edo to observe the election raised this alarm on Thursday.

The NGO said the two parties and their supporters were given money and gift items to the electorate to swing votes.

The chairman of Yiaga Africa, Dr Aisha Abdullahi said this in a pre- election briefing in Benin, the state capital:

“The pre-election environment revealed violent campaign rhetoric and hate speech, excessive use of force by political parties, especially the APC and the PDP, and unhealthy electoral competition.

READ ALSO: EDO GOV POLL: PSC to monitor conduct of policemen

“All forms of brigandage and violence defined the pre-election context. Yiaga Africa reports show that the incidents of violence were prevalent in 13 of the 18 local government areas.

“In the run-up to the election, voters’ inducement has taken centre stage at the expense of issue-based politics. Since Yiaga Africa commenced the PREO in July, 2020, voter inducement has been a recurring decimal.

“Political parties, especially the APC and PDP, are investing in the distribution of money and gift items as a strategy to swing voters.”

Abdullahi equally said that COVID-19 might spike in the state after the exercise due to “reckless breach of covid-19 protocols by both political parties and members of the public.”

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