LG election: Ondo electoral body to sanction erring officers
The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission ( ODIEC) has threatened to sanction any of its officers found culpable in the electoral process and conduct in the Jan.18,2025 local government poll.
The Chairman of the ODIEC, Dr Joseph Aremo, states this during a 2-day capacity building for selected key electoral officers of the commission on Wednesday in Akure.
The theme of the workshop is: “Grassroots Governance and Electoral Integrity.”
“ We have told them that we are going to sanction any officer of the commission caught in any electoral malpractices. The state is bigger than individuals, so, whoever that is caught culpable will be dealt with.
“ That is why we are charging them. When you are not informed, you won’t know. It is a great offence and it’s not just the people that are buying votes.
“Whoever that has concrete reason information about any of our officer, please feel free to inform us. We will sanction such a person,” he stated.
He said that if the commission compromised its integrity, the product would be faulty, saying that peoples’ votes must count.
Aremo said that there was a need for the workshop so that the participants would be refreshed and be kept abreast of their roles .
“ We believe that our people need to get democratic governance: having people elected at the local government level and there is need to provide a viable template that will provide that.
“ And that election should be free fair credible and transplanted. So, what we are doing now is to enlighten, train and retrain electoral officers and top management of the commission.
“ We know that if we must do the right thing, it starts with us. We are told things we should do and should not do. There is need to live above board and remain impartial,” he stated.
Aremo said that vote buying would be discouraged in the forthcoming local government poll.
He added that the grassroots democracy must be protected and must produce competent representatives that could deliver dividends of democracy.
“The issue of vote buying has eroded the legitimacy of any product that comes from such process because ultimately sovereignty resides with people and people have the choice to elect who they want without any inducement.
“We have told them, our officers, that if they find anybody engaging in vote buying, such a person should be arrested and we are set to prosecute.
“What we need now is a scapegoat. We must take the bull by the horn. By the time we are able to prosecute two or three people who are found culpable in this offence, I know that it will serve as deterrent to prospective vote buyers.
“ Now, that the Supreme Court has ruled on local government autonomy, we have more credible people that want to participate in the local government politics.
“The credibility of the poll depends on the integrity of electoral officers. We must do the right thing considering the postponement it has suffered,” he stated.
The ODIEC asked eligible voters to have confidence in the commission, saying that the commission would conduct an election that would be credible and accepted by all.
He enjoined the political parties and other stakeholders to comply to the rules adding that they should have interval democracy.
Also speaking, a resource person, Dr Omololu Adegbenro, said that government and the commission should squarely address the vote buying syndrome by arresting and prosecuting anyone found culpable in the process.
Adegbenro, who is the Registrar of the Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, said that rate of corruption in the electoral process in the country was causing lack of confidence in the electoral process in the country.
The registrar asked the electoral body to continue to collaborate and partner with academics to ensure transparency in the electoral process.
Also, the Permanent Secretary of ODIEC, Mr Igbekele Jatuase, said that the significance of the workshop was in continuation of the commission preparation towards the Jan.18 local government poll in the state.
Jatuase stated that the workshop would enable the participants to be kept afresh on their roles as impartial referees in the conduct of the election.
The two of the participants, Mr Olu Ikugbaigbe and Mr Isaac Obiniran, said that the workshop had reminded them on the right things to do in the electoral process for the conduct of the local government election.
They asked for continuous trainings in ensuring peaceful and credible election.
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