Speaking with SaharaReporters at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre on Sunday, Ogungbiji alleged that the election, held on Saturday, was marred by widespread financial inducement of voters.
A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent, Olaniyi Ogungbiji, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of engaging in vote-buying during the recently concluded 2024 Ondo State governorship election.
Speaking with SaharaReporters at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation centre on Sunday, Ogungbiji alleged that the election, held on Saturday, was marred by widespread financial inducement of voters.
"The process was not free or fair. The APC leveraged monetary incentives to sway voters," Ogungbiji stated, insisting that the practice undermined the integrity of the election.
He said, "The electorate know what they want to do. But at the point of casting their votes and in the face of poverty and money, they went the other way around.
"This is not how democracy has to be practised. If this is the future of election in Nigeria, then we are doomed. I am not a prophet of doom. But if it is all about inducing the electorate to vote, we are doomed.”
When SaharaReporters asked why people voted for the APC despite the economic situation in the state.
He said, "You don't need to visit anywhere. With the APC, just come to the polling booth on election day, bring your money, and you're good to go. I think that is dangerous for the future of politics. Don't forget that the PDP hasn't been in power in this state for quite a long time—almost a decade now."
He continued, "And we are not at the federal level, so we don't really have the money. What we have was to go to the people at the point of electoral campaign and appeal to them.
“And we went to the nooks and crannies of the state. We got to a situation where people said, ‘Please, we will vote for you and we will stand by this vote, ensure our vote counts’.
"Now this is the end of the collation of results for the election. I suspect that the APC, as a party deployed nothing less than N35 billion to induce the electorate. And if this is future of this nation, then, I think we are doomed for it.
"I said this yesterday here when the results of the local government area were released or read by the electoral officer. I told them that the entire Ofosu-Onisere ward should be cancelled because our agents were there. There was no election there. And as a matter of fact, the POs were forced to write those results.”
"And you can note the returning officer said they have noted it, and they were checked. But no action was taken on it. No decision was taken. But all I'm saying is this, for us, if it is the path of inducing the electorate, it is not fair. And I can assure you that if this is the future of Nigeria, then this nation has nowhere to go," Ogungbiji added.
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