#OsunDecides2022: My Prayers And Election Reality 

A month after the Ekiti state election, I was assigned to observe the just concluded Osun State election by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, CJID. For me, it was another moment to checkmate the effort of INEC and the electorate when it came to franchise.

On Thursday, 14th of July, I set out from my base in Ibadan to join fellow observers Temitayo Tolulope, Tosin Ologun and Mariam Hamzat at the Iwo-road area to travel down to Osogbo.

The coordinator, Bukunmi, had already said that anyone late after 2 pm would return back home; this was on my mind as the traffic from Ede down to Osogbo seemed distressing. 

Fortunately for the four of us, we got to the allocated hotel, Hilatria hotel, a few minutes before 2 pm. 

On getting to the reception, the receptionist first didn’t see my name on the long list from CJID. Tosin, being sarcastic, said, “Jerry, don’t worry, you will observe from home.” I hurriedly disagreed with the receptionist to check again until she got my name. 

The room I was allocated to was a suite without a proper lock. At first, I shared the room with Abass, a student of Futa, before It was rearranged hours after Bukunmi arrived at the hotel. 

I eventually spent the night with Paul Oladipupo, a student of OAU. I had a nice time with Paul, especially the way he talks makes me laugh.

Friday, A Day Before Election

While eating breakfast that morning, Bukunmi walked up to me and said, Jeremiah, you are posted to Ayedaade LGA without a partner.

My heart at first shivered because Ayedaade is one of the LGA with the highest polling units after Osogbo, Ife Central and Iwo. Having heard that, what could only come to my mind was the phrase “pray for me.” 

The fear lasted for a few minutes before I recuperated myself to face the task ahead.

After I have gotten my tag and necessary information about Ayedaade LGA, I set out on the journey to a place I literally don’t know anything about.

But as I got to the park, I quickly fetched the song “pray for me” by Darey on my phone as I soliloquized alongside my boom player app for a journey that lasted an average of 45 minutes.

Pre-Electoral Assignment

On getting to Gbongan, which is the capital of Ayedaade LGA, I settled my logistics and accommodation before I rushed down to the INEC office, which is 10 minutes drive from my hotel.

My bike man, Wale Okunola and I got to the INEC office around 5 pm to check if electoral materials were yet to be distributed.

Having spent 20 minutes at the INEC office, I was told that all materials had been sent to St. Patrick grammar school.

Quickly, me and Wale Okunola rode to the place, which had a heavy presence of security operatives to ensure the safety of the election materials. We didn’t stay long because I needed to identify the polling units around Gbongan and its environs.

After all of this, Wale Okunola and I visited a local bar to grab hot plates of pepper soup and drinks then I retired to my hotel to relax and prepare for the heavy task ahead.

The D-Day

As early as 5 am, I was ready for the election observation activity at Ayedaade LGA. 

By 6 am, Wale Okunola had gotten to my hotel, Safe Haven, so that we could begin the task. 

Firstly, we rode to St. Patrick Grammar school to check if they had started transporting election materials to the respective polling units in Ayedaade LGA.

On getting to the location, the electoral materials were just about to be transported to the voting areas. Without wasting so much time, Wale, who is an indigene of Gbongan, began to map out the places we would visit and the proximity. 

My first stop was ward 01, Pu 001, at 7:07 am. INEC officials, voters and security operatives were seen in the vicinity. Directly opposite Ward 01 was Ward 03, where voters had begun to check for their names on the INEC lists.

Before 8:30 am, I had visited over 10 polling units within the Gbongan axis.

Election Is Local 

For all the PUs I visited, the majority of the voters were elderly folks.

One of the moments I captured in ward 02, PU 001, was an old man named John Olaniyan who claimed that he was over 100 years of age. Aside from Pa John, I also saw elderly folks who waited quietly to undergo voting exercises.

At Ward 01, PU 006, a group of elderly people were seen at 7:31 am waiting to get accredited and vote.

Of all the places I went to, priority was given to the elderly, pregnant women and nursing mothers. 

The Voices Of Men Sometimes Aren’t The Voice Of God 

Aside from the fact that the Osun State election recorded less violence, vote-trading can’t be overemphasised at PUs across Ayedaade LGA.

Although vote-trading wasn’t obvious, the sign of moral degradation could be read by the body language of those involved.

A clear contact with one of the traders was at Ward 05, PU 13, Ayedaade LGA, where a woman had a long list of voters that planned to give money after the election. I was almost caught, but I had to quickly leave the environment to stay somewhere else. They were PDP caucuses.

Sometimes, when the results of an election tend to favour a particular party, many forget the mechanism involved. 

After I left the vote-trading site in Ode-Omu, I visited another Ward where Vote-trading almost caught discord among voters.

The Polling Officer was about to start counting the ballot papers at Ward 04, PU 001, which also is the PU of my bike man when I got there.

At the end of the counting, some group of people challenged one Tunde, who was the party agent of Apc in that area, for not giving them the money he promised. One of the aggrieved voters made me understand that the amount Tunde promised them was less than what he gave them. Another said, “after collecting one million, you are now saying they gave you 300k. We won’t agree o. Give us our money.” Tunde was still calming the angry voters when some street guys came in with motorcycles to challenge Tunde for now paying them. 

That was all I witnessed as I moved to St. Patrick Grammar school, which is the INEC collation centre for Ayedaade LGA.

In the PUs where I noticed vote-trading, the highest bidder certainly had the majority votes. That was men’s voices to their stomachs, not God’s.

What Next

NEC should be commended for the stress-free electioneering process in Osun State. However, there were problems with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine, which seemed to stop working during the election. 

Aside from the BVAS brouhaha, INEC needs to work on gaining the trust of the public especially when it comes to the results of votes. 

I can recall that at the INEC collation centre, some voters refused to allow the Adhoc staff to leave after they had submitted the results of their respective PU. Many believed the results could be manipulated just as they used to be in the past.

As the general election beckons in 2023 with more responsibilities from INEC, it’s expedient for the electoral body to fix any problem encountered in both Ekiti and Osun elections.

Appreciation to CJID for the privilege to serve humanity and support the fight for a free and fair election. 

DISCLAIMER: This story has been published on Campus Reporter with very minimal editing to preserve the original voice of the author.

Oluwaferanmi Omoniyi

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