THE Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, has called for a credible electoral process that reflects the democratic will of the people during the supplementary election for the Kogi West Senatorial District and the Ajaokuta Federal Constituency vote on Friday.

The call was contained in a press release signed by Idayat Hassan, executive director, CDD on Thursday that also asked the respective agencies to proactively curb the menace of vote-buying.

Hassan said the onus of credible electoral process rest on all stakeholders, especially the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, to redeem themselves given the violence, voter intimidation and brazen electoral fraud, which characterised the November 16 polls in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

CDD said its observation during the polls showed the processes were seriously tainted by a myriad of electoral malpractices, which fundamentally undermined the integrity of the process and outcomes in Kogi and Bayelsa States. 

The group expressed hope that the security agencies, which “failed to protect voters and poll officials the last time would have taken due note of the local and international condemnation which greeted their abysmal performance on November 16 and are ready to make amends”.

The non-profit group also urged political actors to refrain from sponsoring thugs to disrupt the process and cause harm to voters and poll officials. 

“We equally restate our call to political actors to play by the rules, the statement read partly.

Apart from the task of ensuring the electoral space is safe, CDD also called on the respective agencies to proactively curb the menace of vote-buying, “which would be rife in this supplementary election.”    

The Director said the  CDD Election Analysis Centre (EAC) would be deploying its accredited non-partisan observers across the Polling Units where the supplementary election will be held. 

“CDD calls on eligible voters to come out to vote for a candidate of their choice. We equally restate our call to political actors to play by the rules, and refrain from sponsoring thugs to disrupt the process and cause harm to voters and poll officials,” she said.

The Kogi West Senatorial district supplementary election will be conducted in 53 polling units across seven local governments with a total of 45,767 registered voters. The election will also be conducted in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency in 22 polling units with 15,438 registered voters.