Reports from across Ekiti State indicate that party agents are deploying various tactics to induce voters in the ongoing governorship election on Saturday.
At about 11:30 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES reporters monitoring the election observed that party agents in Ise-Ekiti and Emure-Ekiti were using numbered slips instead of cash to facilitate vote buying.
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The agents were seen asking voters to display their marked ballot papers as proof of their voting preference before issuing the numbered slips.
Rather than distributing cash directly at the polling units, some agents reportedly gave voters numbers after they had cast their ballots, with the numbers believed to be linked to subsequent payments.
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In a separate incident, an agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was observed assisting some voters to thumbprint ballot papers and insert them into the ballot box at Polling Unit 007, Babafemi House, Isan, Ward 11, in Oye Local Government Area.
PREMIUM TIMES observed that an official of Civil Defence present at the polling unit did not intervene to stop the ignoble action.
Earlier, this newspaper reported allegations of vote buying and the distribution of incentives to voters in parts of the state.
Observers from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) reported that at about 8:41 a.m., some party agents were seen distributing cabin biscuits and soft drinks to voters at Polling Unit 004, Ifaki II Ward 04, located at Methodist Pilot Nursery/Primary School, Ilogbe, in Ido/Osi Local Government Area.
More than one million accredited voters are expected to participate in the election to choose who will govern the state for the next four years.
ALSO READ: #EkitiDecides2026: Observers raise concerns as BVAS fails to recognise some elderly voters
A total of 14 candidates are contesting the off-cycle governorship election, including the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji of the APC, who is seeking a second term. His current tenure expires in October.
Ekiti State has 1,059,360 registered voters, up from 989,224 in 2022 and 909,585 in 2018. However, only 1,028,929 voters who collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are eligible to vote in the election.
The poll is being conducted across 2,445 polling units located in 177 wards within the state’s 16 local government areas.
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