… Vote buying remains cancerous challenge — Ebiseni

… General elections will be different ball game — Edema

The re-election of the governor of Ekiti State, Abiodun Oyebanji, has triggered an ecstatic mood, particularly in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti, and Ekiti West Council Area, even as mixed feelings emerged in the hometowns of opposition candidates following Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election.

While jubilant crowds trooped to the Government House in Ado-Ekiti to celebrate the incumbent’s victory, that of the residents of Ikere-Ekiti and Ilawe-Ekiti in Ekiti South-West Local Council Area restrained reactions and was dampened given that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Wole Oluyede, and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) standard-bearer, Dare Bejide, hail from the communities.

The election, which saw Oyebanji securing another four-year tenure, has been described as a litmus test for the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) technological capabilities ahead of the 2027 general elections and the upcoming Osun State governorship election.

Meanwhile, stakeholders and political analysts have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the prompt uploading of results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

They also described the exercise as hitch-free despite concerns over vote buying and delays in the accreditation process.

The secretary general of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Sola Ebiseni, noted that while the Ekiti election demonstrated improvements in INEC’s operational efficiency, particularly in result transmission, it remains a manageable exercise compared to the scale of national general elections.

He said, “The Ekiti off-season gubernatorial election may not really be regarded as an isolated exercise in view of several parliamentary by-elections that are held simultaneously across the country, requiring the deployment of personnel and logistics.”

“Yet it is child’s play compared with the magnitude of efforts required in national general elections.

“This election, therefore, ought to be a flawless litmus test for INEC under Amupitan, particularly in the area of timely accreditation using the BVAS procedure. The prompt release of the results of the election through the iRev deserves encouragement, but it is certainly not yet Uhuru.

“It is hoped that Professor Amupitan and his crew will take such complaints into consideration ahead of the imminent Osun gubernatorial election, which I presume will pose greater challenges to INEC.

“The complaints about vote buying and all sorts are a cancerous challenge for the political class, and INEC could hardly be blamed for it in my own view. The caliber of persons that may be involved would certainly be a challenge to ordinary police officers, and it is most unfortunate.

“Well, about the performance of political parties at the election, only an unrealistic analyst will expect anything different. Elections, particularly in Nigeria, are determined by the preponderance of the gladiators, and from all reasonable parameters, Ekiti is virtually a one-party APC state as of today. Most of the former governors, irrespective of their parties, have signed with the governor. At the federal level, all the gladiators, including the Senate leader, the Senate spokesman, and the minister of solid minerals development, are seasoned men of the president.

The only minimally visible political parties in the election are PDP and ADC, which are grappling with internal squabbles, gasping for stability.”

Ebiseni maintained that the prompt release of results through the IReV portal deserves commendation but urged the electoral commission to address complaints raised during the exercise ahead of the Osun governorship election, which he predicted would pose greater challenges.

On his part, the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency, Ondo State, in 2027, Olugbenga Edema, stated that while off-cycle elections present opportunities for irregularities due to their limited scope, such anomalies would be more difficult to execute during general elections because of the scale of nationwide deployment.

“For off-cycle elections, these anomalies are possible because of the scope, but for general elections, it would be too difficult for incumbency to deploy such a volume of force and intimidation because the entire nation would be involved.”

A senior lecturer in the Mass Communication Department at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Dr. Olugbenga Abimbola, described the Ekiti poll as a test case for what should be expected in 2027, particularly with the 2026 amended Electoral Act.

“The issue of party discipline came to the fore. Once the time of primaries lapses, nobody can change political parties and go and contest. Before the elections, the electorate would have known the candidates, and any candidate that felt cheated in the primary of his party did not cross-carpet anymore.”

Abimbola, who hailed INEC’s technological performance, noted that for the first time, the commission uploaded results within 24 hours of the election conduct, achieving 100 percent transmission on the IReV portal.

“There is no waterside, no difficult terrain, so to say, in Ekiti State. INEC mobilized all resources to that state, material, financial, and logistic resources, even though INEC also deployed resources to other states where there are by-elections.”

He noted the absence of technological failures, including gadget malfunctions or delays in official arrival at polling units, describing the exercise as largely successful from a logistical standpoint.

However, Abimbola issued a cautionary note about the implications for the 2027 general elections, warning that “it may be a different ball game because, especially in the presidential and national assembly elections, elections will be held all over the country, covering over 175,000 polling units.”