Ndubuisi Francis and Kelvin Okofu in Abuja
A report just released by a civil society organisation (CSO), Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has indicated that State Administrative Resources (SARs) were abused in the conduct of the recent gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo States.
The CSJ report, which was released at a press conference in Abuja tuesday, affirmed that the abuse of SARs was rife and perpetrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in Edo State to the disadvantage of other political parties in the state.
It noted, for instance, that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was denied the use of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin-City when the party was ready to pay for the venue, adding that it was clearly an abuse of state resources as the same venue was used by the ruling APC to flag off its campaigns.
It also noted that other attempts to secure venues were thwarted by the APC-led government at other times.
Another strategy to secure votes from farmers, which the report stated, was that the Edo State government guranteed N2 billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for farmers in the state in the Anchor Borrowers Programme. It pointed out that the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the CBN is not a campaign initiative, noting however that the use to which it was deployed in the state and the statement made during the presentation clearly portrayed its deployment as an abuse of SARs.
The report stated that events were quite similar in the Ondo gubernatorial election in terms of abuse of SARs as it brought about an uneven playing field between parties.
The report, which was unveiled by the CSJ Legal Officer, Kingsley Nnajiaka, also raised concerns over issues of electoral misconduct and asked the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take corrective measures to neutralise such acts.
Section 91 (3) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) sets the limit of campaign expenses to be incured by a candidate at a governorship election at N200 million.
In sub Section 9, the Act also sets the limit of contribution by an individual at N1,000,000.00 to any candidate.
The Electoral Act provides in Section 100 (2) that state apparatus, including the media shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any election.
Sections 88-92) also provide for the regulation of the finances and expenditure of the political parties and also places a reporting obligation on them in Section 93.
However, political parties and candidates have not adhered to such directives particularly in the Edo and Ondo States 2016 gubernatorial elections, the CSJ report said.
CSJ stated that in Edo State, PDP and APC spent a total of N614,874,750 and N1,066,933,362 respectively for the gubernatorial campaign, while in Ondo State, the PDP and APC spent the sum of N409,241,900 and N981,317,400 respectively, which were far in excess of the N200 million bar set in Section 91 (3) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended)
CSJ noted that while voting was going on during the September 28, 2016 Edo election, both the APC and PDP were guilty of state-wide vote buying to boost the chances of their party flagbearers.
Based on findings, the report said the PDP and APC spent N47, 000,000 and N130, 500,000 respectively to buy votes during the Edo election.
