#EkitiDecides2026: Party agents deploy tactics to induce voters at polling units

Reports from across Ekiti State indicate that party agents are employing various tactics to induce voters in the ongoing governorship election. At approximately 11:30 a.m., PREMIUM TIMES reporters observed party agents in Ise-Ekiti and Emure-Ekiti using numbered slips instead of cash to facilitate vote buying.

The agents were seen asking voters to display their marked ballot papers as proof of their voting preference before issuing the numbered slips. Instead of distributing cash directly at polling units, some agents reportedly gave voters numbers after they cast their ballots, with these numbers believed to be linked to subsequent payments. In a separate incident, an agent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was observed assisting voters with thumb-printing ballot papers and inserting them into the ballot box at a polling unit in Oye Local Government Area. An official from Civil Defence present at the unit did not intervene.

Earlier reports detailed allegations of vote buying and the distribution of incentives. Observers from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) reported party agents distributing biscuits and soft drinks to voters at a polling unit in Ido/Osi Local Government Area. More than one million accredited voters are participating in the election to choose the state governor for the next four years. A total of 14 candidates are contesting, including the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji of the APC, who is seeking a second term.