KDI raises alarm over vote-buying in Anambra govership election

By Abubakar Yunusa

The Kimpact Development Initiative on Saturday raised serious concern over widespread vote-buying and interference by party agents in the ongoing Anambra State governorship election.

The group said agents of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, All Progressives Congress and Young Progressives Party were observed openly inducing voters with cash ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦10,000.

The Executive Director of KDI, Bukola Idowu, disclosed this during the Mid-Election Day Press Briefing under the Nigeria Election Violence Education and Resolution Project for the off-cycle governorship poll holding across 21 local government areas and 5,718 polling units.

He said party agents had set up “verification points” where voters received payments after casting their ballots.

According to him, the activities amount to a direct violation of electoral guidelines and a “fundamental assault” on the credibility of the election.

Idowu also faulted what he described as weak enforcement by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies, saying their failure to stop the acts raised concern about the protection of voters’ rights.

KDI further reported that despite the deployment of about 55,000 personnel, security presence at many polling units was sparse, with some locations recording no security officers in the early hours of voting.

The organisation recorded 21 incidents of violence in over 1,000 polling units it monitored, including voter intimidation, physical assault, ballot box snatching and the discharge of tear gas by a security operative.

It also said early field reports suggested low voter turnout in many areas, with polling stations seeing only a handful of voters on queue.

On the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, KDI observed that the device worked effectively in over 95 per cent of the polling units observed. However, it noted isolated cases of device malfunction and reliance on facial recognition when fingerprint capture failed.

The group equally raised concern over the compromise of ballot secrecy, saying several voters were seen displaying their marked ballot papers to party agents before being escorted away to receive payment.

KDI urged all stakeholders to exercise restraint, maintain peace and respect the electoral process. It also encouraged citizens to report irregularities through official channels and demanded that final results reflect the true will of the electorate.

The organisation said its Election Day Data Room, located in Awka, is coordinating real-time reports from 370 trained observers deployed across the state.

It added that data from field reports were being verified and shared with partners and the public to ensure credible monitoring of the election process.