On Saturday, claims of vote-buying in the governorship race now underway in Ekiti State emerged.
There have been reports of voters who allegedly got monetary incentives from operatives of political parties in return for their votes.
Results from Aramoko Ekiti, the seat of the Ekiti West Local Government Area, show that some voters acknowledged receiving monetary contributions from party representatives.
According to the voters, operatives from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) allegedly gave N2,000 to buy their support, while operatives from the All Progressives Congress (APC) allegedly offered N10,000 each.
It has been reported that party agents approached potential voters at Polling Unit 004, Chief Ologbodo’s House, Oke Uro, Aramoko II, with financial offers.
Despite the presence of election officials and security personnel, witnesses reported that the inducements were made openly near the polling unit.
Voters who participated in the survey acknowledged accepting bribes from political figures, saying that the practice was common at many neighbourhood polling places.
These claims surfaced just hours after EFCC agents, concerned about possible vote-buying in the Ekiti West Local Government Area, visited Polling Unit 003, Foutage of Oyebanji Okelele, Ward 06, Ikogosi.
Reportedly, roughly ten EFCC officers arrived at the voting station not long after the polls opened and kept an eye on things there. Having said that, no arrests had been announced at the time this article was filed.
Voter inducement and other types of electoral fraud were already warned of by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), anti-corruption authorities, and civil society organisations before to the election.