Ekiti Gov’ship Election: Stakeholders Demand Security, Action Against Vote Buying

Some civil society organisations working as partners under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase Two (EU-SDGN II) programme have called for heightened security measures and a clampdown on vote buying ahead of the Ekiti State governorship election.

The appeal was made during a media briefing on the pre-election assessment report for the 2026 Ekiti off-cycle governorship election in Abuja yesterday.

They raised concerns about electoral integrity, preparedness gaps and rising risks ahead of the June 20 governorship election.

The report was presented by the executive director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Lanre Arogundade, who noted that the assessment was designed to promote transparent, credible, peaceful and inclusive elections in line with the objectives of the EU-SDGN II programme.

According to him, the Ekiti election is the first governorship poll to be conducted under the new Electoral Act 2026 and will serve as a major test of key provisions, including electronic transmission of results, administrative review mechanisms, and collation procedures yet to be fully operationalised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Coming just months before the 2027 general elections, he said the poll would also serve as a critical indicator of the electoral system’s institutional readiness.

The assessment warned that while the pre-election environment in Ekiti appears generally calm, it should not be mistaken for democratic strength. It noted that the contest is widely perceived as uncompetitive, shaped by incumbency advantage, elite alignment around the sitting governor, resource imbalance between political parties and internal fractures within opposition camps.

“The State Office is yet to receive election funding and several state and LGA offices, operational vehicles and collation centres require urgent rehabilitation.

“The 32,475 new registrants from the Continuous Voter Registration exercise are being processed, with PVC collection scheduled for 21st–25th May, 2026, and the display of the register of voters across all 2,445 polling units on 20th May, 2026.

“With 36 days to polling day, a one-third preparedness rate is structurally incompatible with the conduct of a credible election on the current trajectory. Despite the concluded and ongoing activities by the INEC state office, it is important to note that they do not compensate for the absence of core funding and infrastructure as at 14 April 2026,” Arogundade said.

On INEC’s preparedness, the report described the situation as an operational concern, noting that although voter registration, PVC processing and other preparatory activities are ongoing, overall readiness across the commission’s 16 local government offices stood at 34 per cent as of 14th April, 2026.