By Shina Abubakar

AN election observer group, Yiaga Africa, yesterday, warned that political desperation of political parties and acts of pre-election violence may hinder the integrity of the July 16 governorship election in Osun State.

The group also identified inducement of voters before and during the election as a major snag that will affect free, fair and credible election in the state. Speaking at a press conference jointly addressed by a Board member and Director of Programme, Ezenwa Nwagwu and Cynthia Mbamalu respectively, Yiaga urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to intensify voter education on the consequences of vote buying and make the collection of permanent voter cards more seamless to enhance mass participation.

Nwagwu and Mbamalu said: “The recent escalation in the activities of political thugs and cultists in Osun State remains a potential threat to the peaceful conduct of the election.

“Activities of thugs and cultist groups range from disruption of PVC Collection in LGAs and violent clashes which have threatened the peace in the locations affected. While Yiaga Africa commends the recent arrest of some political thugs by the police, there is an urgent need for more intelligence to be deployed in addressing these rising threats to ensure more arrests and prosecution of culprits.

“Yiaga Africa is also concerned about the uncouth and unguarded utterances by some political actors in the state in their efforts to woo voters. There is no doubt that these desperate utterances by major actors going into the election demonstrate a lack of caution and sportsmanship. This is capable of not just intimidating prospective voters but also inflaming the political environment, if not checked.  “We call on these actors especially the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to exercise restraint and advise their supporters to play by the rules.

“It is barely 10 days to the Osun Governorship election, and the rate of voter inducement across the state is increasing. Indicating that money may be a defining factor in the election of Saturday, July 16th, 2022, Yiaga Africa is, therefore, concerned that this practice of vote merchandising if not curbed will consistently delegitimize political mandate and undermine the electoral process. 

“We commend INEC on its efforts on the PVC collection exercise for both old and new registrants. However, we are concerned about the strategies deployed to ensure that the over 333,179 newly produced/printed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are collected by voters before July 16, 2022.

“The PVCs are currently being collected in the LGA offices and reports from the WTV LTOs reveal that prospective voters are crowding some INEC LGA offices with little hope of getting their PVCs before the election.

“As the elections draw near, security agencies working on the elections should ensure that all personnel deployed are adequately trained and operate with all sense of responsibility, professionalism and neutrality.”