Edo Guber: KDI Raises Concern Over Widespread Vote Buying

The executive director of Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), Bukola Idowu, has described the widespread vote buying that characterised the recent Edo State governorship elections as concerning.

Idowu said the observation was made across all three senatorial districts.

She added that voter inducements ranged from ₦1,000 to ₦10,000 and material incentives which undermined the credibility of the election.

Noting that KDI’s assessment of the election is contained in its post-election report, she however commended the peaceful nature of the exercise.

Speaking in Benin, the Edo State capital, she said, “The 2024 Edo governorship election showcased a wide range of electoral experiences, with some aspects being commendable, others raising concerns, and a few being outright alarming.

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“On the positive side, we commend the relative peace that characterised the election day, despite the palpable tension that marked the pre-election phase.

“We believe this was allowed by the Edo citizens and reinforced by the relative adequacy in policing structure and professionalism of security personnel to allow movement of essential workers in most of the LGAs.

“There were few reports of shortage of security personnel in certain polling units–such as Ward 4:PU9 but the security agencies upon getting this information reinforcements at 11:00 am.

“Even though there were few acts of violence and disruption of pols in Esan Central, Ovia Southwest and collation centers in Oredo, Egor,and Ikpoba-Okha LGAs. It is noteworthy to state that there were no fatalities recorded in this election.”

Idowu further hinted that the report showed that most of these malfunctioned BVAS were due to technical issues adding that  ad-hoc officers did not have password details as at when they got to their PUs and about to commence the process.