FINAL STATEMENT BY THE NIGERIA CIVIL SOCIETY SITUATION ROOM ON THE ONDO STATE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION HELD ON SATURDAY, 16TH NOVEMBER

Issued in Akure: 12:00noon on Wednesday, 20th November 2024

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) observed the Ondo State Governorship held on Saturday, 16th November 2024, deploying accredited observers across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State. Situation Room also received reports from its member organisations and networks during the election.

In addition to its earlier statements on the election, Situation Room notes the following observations:

GENERAL 

The Ondo State Governorship election 2024 was generally peaceful with voters conducting themselves calmly at the polling units. The conduct of this Governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was a great improvement from recently conducted off-cycle Governorship elections in the country. Situation Room commends INEC for this observed improvement, and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Ondo State for keeping to her assurances and frequent engagements with stakeholders ahead of the election.

Also, reports from Situation Room observers and member organisations indicate that security agents conducted themselves professionally throughout the campaign period and the election.

Despite these gains, the level of vote buying, as in recent elections, and a general lack of commitment to a competitive electioneering process by the political parties, were the drawbacks in this election. Situation Room is therefore calling for an Electoral reform that can urgently address these issues.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

The Situation Room notes the early arrival of election personnel and materials at the polling units across the State, leading to the timely commencement of voting in 97% of the polling units observed. INEC’s early deployment of sensitive materials to the Registration Area Centres (RACs) and Super RACs as well as clear communication of routes to drivers who were responsible for conveying election materials and personnel to the polling units was very helpful.

The voting processes also went smoothly, including accreditation of voters using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), in most of the polling units. It was also observed that collation of results from the Ward level to the State was concluded in an orderly manner, and without any drama. This is a direct opposite of the Edo State Governorship election 2024 where observers reported violations of the collation process in several locations. We commend INEC for complying with its guidelines on collation of results in Ondo State.

INEC, however, failed to provide the necessary support to voters with disability to enable them to exercise their civic duty independently. There was no reason, whatsoever, for this observed gap given the population of voters with disability in the State and INEC’s regular claim that it has an abundance of assistive devices in the Commission.

VOTER TURNOUT

The voter turnout in the 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State was abysmal. At about 29% when compared to the total number of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) collected, which stands at 1,757,205, the turnout in this election is much lower than what was recorded four years ago during the 2020 Governorship election in the State, despite INEC distributing more than 270,000 additional PVCs over this period. This shows a high level of voter apathy. Young people were observed playing football on the roads and open spaces in the morning of the election day, confirming previous observations of decreasing citizens’ interest and participation in Nigeria’s elections. Efforts must be made to halt this trend quickly.

VOTE BUYING

The menace of vote trading continues to raise its ugly head in our election. Voters and different party agents were observed trading votes openly ranging from N20,000 to N10,000 across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State. Situation Room calls on stakeh