On the sidelines of an annual political stakeholders’ workshop organized by the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Osun State chapter, with the theme “Our democracy the way forward,” held in Osogbo on Tuesday, state Resident Electoral Commissioner Mutiu Agboke urged party leaders to refrain from using force to obtain votes, pointing out that violence is still one of the issues facing free and fair elections in the nation.
Agboke told the party leaders that they were the ones who were engaging in vote-buying.
The fact that they are calling us to discuss vote-buying and the propensity for violence during elections makes me extremely happy. I would also like to utilize this opportunity to point out that vote-buying is a propensity that has been there for a while, but it is being done by stakeholders. They agreed with me that it was something they were doing.
“Starting a big education campaign, which they are doing with this workshop, is one of the measures we need to do to stop it. Once more, violence is one of the issues affecting Nigeria’s election results.
“Stakeholders are the ones who commit it, and we must speak with them to help them understand how to behave and make sure that people are more encouraged to vote than forced to do so.
Agboke stated, “You are forcing people to vote in a certain direction if you unleash terror and violence.” Victor Akande, the chairman of Osun IPAC, had earlier stated that the workshop’s discussion on violence and vote-buying was chosen to further democracy in the country.”
Akande urged the party leaders to behave peacefully and steer clear of matters that could spark unrest during the state’s upcoming local government elections, claiming that they had been given pertinent knowledge that would improve public governance.