A reputable Civil Society Organisation by the standard of Clariform Media Group, the YIAGA Africa, has backed the official final result of the Ekiti governorship election held on Saturday across the state.

In the final results announced by the Chief Returning Officer for INEC, Professor Kayode Adebowale, the Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, the APC candidate was declared the winner with victory in 15 local government areas of the state.

The APC candidate pulled a total of 187,057 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chief Segun Oni of the SDP who scored 82,211.

While the PDP`s Bisi Kolawole came third with total votes tally of 67,457 votes, with victory in only one local government areas in the state.

While reacting to this final result declaration, the Segun Oni Campaign Organisaton, on Sunday, rejected the outcome describing it as “unacceptable”.

In a statement by the campaign organization, the SDP candidate says the result is unacceptable by the party “because it is a travesty of democracy, it is a rape on democracy and clear daylight robbery”.

However, the YIAGA Africa has come out in support of the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission`s (INEC) Returning Officer, saying that it reflects the actual result of votes cast at the polling centers.

This position of YIAGA Africa was taking after their internal and independent result verification process. The report of the verification process was released on Sunday.

The report was signed by the Executive President of the organization, Mr. Samson Itodo and Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, who is an Executive Director in the board of YIAGA Africa.

The Civil Society Organization noted in the report that the INEC statistics are similar to its findings and estimates.

This includes valid and invalid votes cast across the state on Saturday, as well as the final result and winner of the governorship election.

NOTABLE QUOTES

The report reads in part:

“Had the official results been changed at the ward, LGA or state collation centres, the official results would not have fallen within the Yiaga Africa WTV estimated ranges. Because the official results fall within the estimated ranges, candidates, parties, and voters should have confidence the official results for the Ekiti 2022 gubernatorial election reflect the ballots cast at polling units on Saturday, June 18,” the report reads.

“It is important to highlight that the counting process at polling units was transparent and included representatives from the four political parties that received the most votes.”

“Yiaga Africa is able to estimate that turnout is between 35.7% and 38.7% (37.2% ± 1.5%), while INEC’s official result is 36.47%. Similarly, Yiaga Africa estimates rejected ballots are between 1.8%and 2.6% (2.2% ± 0.4%) while INEC’s official result is 2.46%,” the report reads.

“Yiaga Africa encourages INEC to uphold the principles of transparency by publishing the total number of PVCs collected in Ekiti on its website. In addition, Yiaga Africa calls on INEC to audit the newly created polling units and ensure equitable distribution of voters to the polling units.

“Yiaga Africa commends the professionalism of the security agents who worked to maintain peace on Election Day. We commend the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the arrest of mercenaries deployed by political parties to buy votes. We urge the EFCC and security agencies to investigate and prosecute all citizens involved in electoral fraud, especially those involved in vote trading.”

BACKGROUND & TAKEAWAY

YIAGA Africa is a non-profit civic hub of change makers committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human rights and civic engagement. YIAGA Africa was launched as a student organization in 2007 at the University of Jos, Nigeria and has since established itself as a leading civil society organization in Africa.

Since its inception, the organization has carved a niche for itself as one of Africa’s frontline non-profit organization promoting participatory democracy, human rights and civic participation.

With its operational base in Abuja, Nigeria, Yiaga Africa focuses on in-depth research, providing critical analysis on key democratic and governance issues, crafting practical solutions, training and empowering citizens to lead change in their community. Source: Wikipedia