Osun gov’ship: CSO asks INEC to probe night voting in Ede North, South LGAs

The Northern Patriotic Front (NPF), one of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accredited Civil Society Organisations (CSO) that monitored and observed the July 16, governorship election in Osun State, has faulted late night voting in Ede South and Ede North LGAs.

The group, therefore, has urged the electoral umpire to investigate the matter with a view to forestalling future occurrences.

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It equally noted that security was relaxed in some parts of the LGAs, saying, “Between Sekona roundabout and Edunabon there were neither checking points nor patrol of any security personnel.”

In an 18-page report signed by its Administrative Secretary, Rasheed Shuaib, a copy of which has been submitted to INEC, the CSO also observed that there was vote-buying in some of the polling units its members visited.

It urged Nigerians not to leave the fight against vote-buying to CSOs and the anti-graft agencies alone, insisting that all hands must be on deck to eradicate the menace.

The report reads in part: “According to the electoral guideline, the official close of voting at polling units is 2:30 pm. In most of the polling units visited and as reported by the NPF observers, voting was concluded at various polling units across the state by 2:30 pm in accordance with the electoral law as amended 2022. 

“However, this was not followed in some of the polling units in Ede axis, where voting was still going on till around 9pm. This is clearly against the provisions of the Electoral Act. This anomaly was also reported by some other observer groups’ analyses in the media. 

“The conduct of election in Ede South and Ede North should be investigated to assist the commission in preventing admitting voters to queue after the stipulated time.”