The outcome of the governorship election in Ondo State has left many residents of the State dumbfounded. One of them described it as scoring against the run of play in a football match. On the street, the APC is criticised and hated for the hardship its reform policies have inflicted: How would the people still vote for the same party rather than punish it?

Incumbent Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa does not seem to enjoy street popularity amongst his people. His ten months of rule since taking over after the demise of his boss, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has not been very inspiring. Residents complained that he has neither inaugurated new projects nor completed those started by the Aketi administration. But his electioneering strategy worked well for him and his party.

There were no widespread celebrations across the State after Ayedatiwa was announced as the winner of the contest. This is strange for a winner who won over 70 percent of the votes. The truth is that the election suffered relative voter apathy. According to a female grassroots mobiliser, several residents did not want to come and vote out but only did so with inducement offers. At the end of the day, less than 30 percent of the over 1.75 million people who collected their PVCs voted in the election.

Governor Ayedatiwa allegedly warned all his political appointees that whoever failed to win his unit, and ward should be ready to bid his government goodbye. There was a strategic and creative way of inducement of voters. An unconfirmed report said at least N1.5 million was allocated by the ruling APC to every polling unit. There are 3,933 polling units in the State. Humongous sums of money went into prosecuting the governorship election project, especially by the two leading political parties. The PDP, could, however, not match up with what was eventually on offer. Analysts have projected that up to N7 billion could have been disbursed in the last 48 hours of the election including election day.

The opposition parties could not, however, raise objections when the results were announced at the various levels of collation. Ballot snatching was uncommon but there were minimal altercations among party agents, nothing beyond a normal day-to-day human interaction recorded here and there. There were no reported cases of falsification of results by INEC. Indeed, many people on the ground have scored INEC high in its performance. The election was transparent and no disputations with the collated results.

INEC must have regained part of its credibility with the Ondo election. The issue of the likelihood of bias against the REC Oluwatoyin Babalola was not reflected in the conduct of the election. The voting procedure was peaceful and orderly. Sorting and counting were done to the satisfaction of the party agents. Final results were posted in conspicuous places at the polling units for all to see.

There was widespread use of money to buy votes. Payment terminals also known as point of sale (POS) terminals were brought to some voting areas for money transfers. The strategy varied from one place to another. It was like an organized crime where participants had roles assigned. Voters freely displayed their ballot papers as a criterion for monetary compensation. An agent must confirm the vote before communicating with the cashier to effect payment. A female voter said on camera that she and others have voted as directed and they have been paid accordingly.

Scapegoats were made of a few vote buyers persons including a vehicle owner who had two hefty bags filled with money around the polling unit. The EFCC officials came out in their numbers scouting around for vote traders, but they could not achieve much because their uniforms sold them out. They would have achieved much more if disguised. Catching vote buyers is outside the purview of INEC.

Curbing the menace of vote buying and its threat to Nigeria’s democracy is the next challenge. The improvisation of the people with a battered economy makes the people susceptible and manipulable. There is a need for more voter education and advocacy work to canvass for the improvement of the economy. Not many people can stand on their conscience in the face of hunger. If this trend continues in subsequent elections, democracy, and its true meaning will be under threat in Nigeria.