Ahead of June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State, electorates in the state have been urged to desist from the barbaric and crude electoral practices of vote buying and selling.
The Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev Felix Ajakaye who gave the advice also told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be practically independent and organise free, fair and credible election .
The cleric who posited that both the vote buying and selling are criminal offences said those indulging in such should always be treated as “criminals”.
Bishop Ajakaye gave the admonition in his new year message made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
Advising voters to resist attempt by those he described as “political opportunists” to forcefully take over Ekiti governance in the state he said “Our dear state must not fail , our Nigeria must not fail”.
He appealed to political parties to conduct credible primaries to avert violence that could heat up the polity and truncate the electorate process, saying the success of the forthcoming election would depend largely on how major political parties, especially the People’s Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress organise their primaries.
The New Year message titled: ‘2022, Year of Optimism’, and released by the Cleric, said : “In Ekiti State ,Land of Honour and Integrity, by God’s grace, on Saturday, June 18, 2022, there will be election to elect a new governor. I urge the political parties to organise their primaries in ways that the best will emerge as candidates from their numerous aspirants.’’