#EkitiDecides2018: Updates

PDP, APC allege plot to alter votes

The PDP governorship candidate, Prof Kolapo Olusola, and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, have both raised alarm over alleged plot to manipulate the results of Saturday’s governorship election.

The Director of Media, Kolapo Olusola Campaign Organisation, Lere Olayinka, said results in most of the local councils were currently being altered by the APC.

He said, “Aside the fact that it was an election of the PDP versus all the security agencies in the country, we are confident of winning.”

Olayinka alleged that various wards’ collating centres had been taken over by armed thugs backed by security agencies.

“Despite the intimidation and harassment by security agencies, we are still hopeful of winning the election but we are confronted with a clear plot to manipulate the results.

“We are therefore calling on all well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the security agencies and INEC to allow the will of Ekiti people to prevail.”

In a counter-allegation, the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation said Governor Ayodele Fayose was nursing a plan to use thugs to abort the elections.

A statement by the Director of Media and Publicity of the KFCO, Wole Olujobi, said it was too late to abort the will of Ekiti people in the July 14 election.

“Information at our disposal indicates that Fayose is mobilising his thugs to invade the collation centre to disrupt the conclusion of the election in which Fayemi is coasting home to victory.

“The attention of the world and indeed Nigerians is hereby called to the plot by Fayose to stoke violence at collation centre to disrupt the conclusion of this free and fair exercise through which Ekiti people have spoken in a clear language to have Fayemi as the governor of their choice.

“We call on security agencies to be alert to their responsibility to stop this sabotage against the nation’s law.

“The Nigerian law has spoken and Ekiti people have spoken too, and so we want to let Fayose realise that this attempt to abort this legal process will fail,” Olujobi said.

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Viral video shows voters collecting cash for vote

A video on the Ekiti governorship election has gone viral showing voters claiming they were being given cash to influence their votes.

The video uploaded by a BBC reporter in Ekiti State, showed people trooping to, and leaving the old government House in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Those spoken to claimed they were being given N4,000 and told to vote for a particular candidate in the election.

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Voting concluded in some polling units

Voting in many areas have been concluded, but voters, majorly youths, are still hanging around waiting for the sorting and counting of the ballot papers.

Among the areas where voting have been concluded include Oye, Ilupeju Ekiti and majority of polling units in Ire Ekiti area of the state.

Already, results are being announced in some polling units.

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Fayose rates police, INEC conduct

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose eventually voted at his Afao ward unit 001 on Saturday at 1:25pm, but decried police maltreatment of majority of his staff.

The governor who accused police of complicity in the Ekiti election, alleged that majority of his staff members were arrested for no just cause by security agents.

He however commended the INEC for the election process, saying that the electoral body “meant well but the process has been hijacked by police. It is a national disaster.”

He stated this soon after casting his vote.

“I raised this alarm, that this Ekiti election may be marred by violence, and this is what is happening now.

“Majority of my staff have been arrested by the police. My chief of staff has been arrested. The security agencies have taken over the responsibility of INEC.

“The police authority has refused to pick their call, you cannot reach any one of them. This is sad,” he said.

He further alleged that reports from Ikere “indicated that they are planning to over-run the place. That is where the governorship candidate of my party hails from.

”There are reports of ballot snatching and votes buying in Ado and other areas across the state.”

Fayose who boasted while recalling how he defeated Fayemi in 2014, said he was sure he will be defeated again this time by the candidate of the PDP, Professor Kolapo Olusola.

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Ballot boxes snatched

Amid heavy presence of security personnel, Ekiti governorship election still recorded ballot box snatching in some polling units.

About five thugs were said to have stormed Mary lmmaculate, Oke Ilado, polling unit 008 and ldofin, Father Blessing house, Ado LGA and snatched two ballot boxes.

There was similar report also at Ward 6, Unit 12 of Efon LGA, where some thugs allegedly snatched a ballot box.

According to an eyewitness report, the thugs disrupted election and as soon as the corps member working as INEC ad hoc staff ran away, they went away with the ballot box, papers, stamps and other materials.

Meanwhile, Kayode Fayemi (APC), and Olusola Eleka (PDP) the major contenders in the Ekiti election have expressed satisfaction in the process.

According to Fayemi, the process has been peaceful and credible. Olusola on the other hand said except for some vote buying reports reaching him and pockets of thuggery, the exercise was satisfactory.

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Gov Fayose casts his vote in Afao-Ekiti

Ekiti state Governor, Ayo Fayose, has cast his vote at Polling Unit 001, Ward 01 Afao-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area.

This is after several hours of waiting for the governor at the unit.

Fayose arrived his polling unit at about 1:15 pm and proceeded to cast his vote immediately after verification.

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PDP candidate Eleka casts his vote manually

Olusola Eleka of the Peoples Democratic Party has just been accredited and has cast his vote, this is after several attempts by officials of INEC to get him accredited using the card reader.

The fingerprint of the PDP governorship candidate had been rejected by INEC’s card reader.

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INEC card reader rejects Olusola, Fayemi wife’s PVCs

Efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Kolapo Olusola, to cast his vote has so far amounted to futility as the card reader keeps rejecting his Permanent Voter Card (PVC).

His first and second attempts to cast his votes were not successful but he is still hopeful and preparing to make a third attempt.

While nothing that he would not as a result of the development, say that he does not have confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olusola however expressed worries that other electorate might be disenfranchised if his PVC could be rejected.

“I cannot say I don’t have confidence in the electoral process but I have my fears. My card has been rejected twice now. It is amazing and they asked me if the card is bent or something but you all can see the card is not bent. The REC should do something about that.

“APC agents are going about distributing money to voters in the presence of INEC officials and security men,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kayode Fayemi, casts his vote at Unit 9, Ward 11 amid tight security.

But his wife Bisi, could not do same as the INEC card reader did not recognize her fingerprint.

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Vote buying as ‘Snap and Buy’

Voting ongoing with large turnout and voters generally conducting themselves in an orderly manner in centers visited.

Due to allegations of vote buying, security agents at some polling units have banned the use of GSM phones when voting.

The phenomenon is called “Snap and buy” in Ekiti, as allegations spread that voters are being compensated with between N3,000 and N5,000 if they provide evidence of who they voted for.

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Reports indicate that elections have kicked off peacefully, with accreditation and voting being done simultaneously.

The aged and handicapped are given priority at most polling units.

There are however some reports that some political party officials are bribing voters to sway their choice of candidates.

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Ekiti gov poll kicks off peacefully amid heavy security

In spite of the tension that has trailed the campaigns of the Ekiti governorship elections, the exercise has kicked off peacefully.

About 667,270 voters in the state will today (Saturday) file out to select from 34 candidates of different political parties, who will steer the leadership of the state for the next four years.

About 30,000 security men were deployed by the police and other security agencies, which appeared to have fuelled tension in the state, but reports indicate that there is security presence in most of the polling units so far.

Ekiti has 16 local government areas, 177 registration areas; 2,195 polling units; 256 polling points, and 913,334 registered voters.

Of the registered voters, 667,270 will be casting their votes as they are the number accredited to vote. It represents 73 per cent of the registered voting population.

Prominent mong the 34 candidates hoping to succeed the outgoing governor of the state, Ayodele Fayose, are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, who also is the state’s deputy governor, Professor Kolapo Olusola, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and former governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Both parties had during their electioneering campaigns made accusations and counter accusations on how each of the parties plots to rig and ignominiously compromise the election.

INEC was not left out in the accusations of conspiracy to rig the election to favour one of this political parties.

However, INEC has continuously refuted such allegations and has maintained that the election will be free, fair and transparent.

 

#EkitiDecides2018: Nigerian govt shuts down Ekiti Broadcast Service

The federal government has through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) ordered the immediate shutdown of the Ekiti Broadcast Service (EBS) for allegedly breaching provisions of the Broadcasting Code.

The NBC stated that the Ekiti Broadcast Service breached the Electoral Act and Broadcasting Code by allowing Governor Ayodele Fayose to announce results in favour of his deputy and candidate of the PDP, Kolapo Olusola, declaring him the winner of the governorship election in the state.

Beyond what it said was the unauthorised declaration of election results by the governor, the NBC also accused the governor of using the broadcast service to make malicious and unsubstantiated comments against the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), the police and the Department of State Services.

From the NBC’s shutdown order, the Ekiti Broadcast Service is to remain shut until further notice.

#EkitiDecides2018: Fayemi wins Fayose’s local government

The candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC) in the Ekiti State governorship election, Kayode Fayemi, has emerged victorious in Irepodun-Ifelodun, the Local Government Area of incumbent Governor Ayodele Fayose.

Fayemi polled 13,869 votes while Kolapo Olusola-Eleka of the PDP had 11,456 votes.

Even though the PDP won in Fayose’s polling unit and ward, the votes in other wards swung the local government to the APC’s favour in what will be seen as a huge blow to Fayose who is the strongman of the party.

The local government has 11 wards. Results from each ward was collated at the headquarters of INEC located in Igede.

A total of 66,162 electorates are registered in the local government while 27,306 were accredited.

Of the 27,211 votes cast, 25,849 were valid while 1362 were rejected.

Read also: #EkitiDecides2018: Nigerian govt shuts down Ekiti Broadcast Service

Party agents of APC and PDP present at the centre signed the result at about 11:06p.m.

FULL RESULTS BELOW:

AWO WARD 3
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5102
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2245
APC – 1074
PDP – 1002
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2121
TOTAL REJECTED – 96
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2217
NO CANCELLATION

IROPORA/ESURE/EYIO WARD 8
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5637
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2109
APC – 937
PDP – 1033
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2006
TOTAL REJECTED – 103
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2109
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 3 WARD 7
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 3902
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 1717
APC – 665
PDP – 963
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1652
TOTAL REJECTED – 61
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 1713
NO CANCELLATION

AFAO WARD 1
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 4286
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2036
APC – 517
PDP – 1361
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1909
TOTAL REJECTED – 127
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2036
NO CANCELLATION

ARE, WARD 2
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 4426
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 1968
APC – 701
PDP – 1095
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 1850
TOTAL REJECTED – 108
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 1958
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 2 WARD 6
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5450
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2307
APC – 891
PDP – 1190
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2114
TOTAL REJECTED – 187
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2301
NO CANCELLATION

IGEDE 1, WARD 5
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 5794
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2610
APC – 1087
PDP – 1330
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2475
TOTAL REJECTED – 135
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2610
NO CANCELLATION

IYIN 1, WARD 10
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 6574
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 3014
APC – 2229
PDP – 612
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2887
TOTAL REJECTED – 110
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2998
NO CANCELLATION

IYIN 2, WARD 11
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 7148
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 3188
APC – 2218
PDP – 743
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 3018
TOTAL REJECTED – 165
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 3183
NO CANCELLATION

IWOROKO, WARD 9
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 11025
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 2658
APC – 1315
PDP – 1140
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 2521
TOTAL REJECTED – 130
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 2651
NO CANCELLATION

IGBEMO, WARD 4
TOTAL NO OF REGISTERED VOTERS – 6836
TOTAL NO OF ACCREDITED – 3454
APC – 2235
PDP – 987
TOTAL VALID VOTES – 3295
TOTAL REJECTED – 140
TOTAL NO OF VOTES CAST – 3435
NO CANCELLATION

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