CDD: How ASUU strike, money politics may affect Ekiti guber poll

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) says the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may affect the smooth conduct of the Ekiti governorship election. 

Adele Jinadu, chairperson of the CDD election analysis centre (EAC), in a statement on Friday, said the ASUU strike has created a vacuum in terms of the availability of idle youths, who could be recruited for criminal activities. 

The centre also listed concerns around money politics, effectiveness of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BCAS), and threats of violence as factors that may also affect the governorship election scheduled for Saturday.

“The CDD EAC is concerned about violence, money politics and violations of incumbency powers and the possible effects of these on the credibility of the election. CDD EAC notes that Ekiti State has recorded several incidents of violence during previous elections,” the statement reads.

“In the build up to the 2022 governorship election, pockets of election-related violence have been recorded in places like Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Oye, Ido/Osi and Oye Ekiti. Other observable issues, which would shape the credibility of the election include; how well INEC is able to effectively deploy technology, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), impartial security provisioning, the quality of results management, curtailing the role of money, incumbency and godfatherism in the election.

“Also critical is the need for stakeholders in the election to proactively track, and counter fake news and misinformation. Already, the pre-election period has witnessed the spread of fake news capable of undermining voter confidence and participation in the process. An example is the fake news which trended recently on a purported Appeal Court decision nullifying the primaries of one of the major political parties and, by extension, its candidate.

“In terms of some of the election risk factors, CDD notes that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU) has crippled the local economy, especially in university towns in Ekiti State. This has created a threat in terms of the availability of idle youth being recruited for activities, which could undermine the credibility of the election.

“By grounding the local economy, the strike has also created the wrong incentives as voters are more likely to see the election as an opportunity for economic survival, thereby exacerbating the risk of vote buying. This becomes even more relevant when it is considered that Ekiti State introduced the issue of “stomach infrastructure” into the Nigerian political lexicon.

“CDD has also observed that based on history of past violence in elections in the state, the following Local Government Areas, constitute potential flash points in the election; Ado Ekiti, Efon Alaiye, Ido/Osi, and Oye.”