INEC breaks silence on allegations of ‘vote-buying, rigging’ during Ekiti guber elec

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday condemned the open buying of votes in the recently concluded Ekiti governorship election.

This was contained in a communiqué issued after its meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners from all the states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The communiqué was signed by the National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna.

On alleged rigging, the Commission stated that manipulation did not occur and that its headache was vote-buying.

“The Commission reviewed the conduct of the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State and preparations for the September 22, 2018 Osun governorship election.

“It noted the satisfactory conduct of the Ekiti governorship election as attested to by both domestic and international observers, the media and other stakeholders.

“The meeting also noted with deep concern, the rising phenomenon of vote-buying during elections and restated its commitment and determination to continue to work with all stakeholders, especially the security agencies, to stem the ugly trend,” it read.

Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor-elect, Kayode Fayemi and his deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi have received their certificates of return.

The ceremony took place at the state INEC headquarters along new Iyin Road in Ado-Ekiti.

Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof Kolapo Olusola.

Results released by the INEC showed that Fayemi garnered 197,459 votes to beat Olusola who polled 178,121 votes.