A commotion broke out at Unit 4, Ward 2 in Ilawe Ekiti during the ongoing governorship election as supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) clashed over allegations of vote buying.
The ADC governorship candidate, Mr Dare Bejide, who voted at the polling unit, alleged that some politicians attempted to bring an undisclosed amount of money to the area for distribution but were stopped.
He further claimed that an APC chieftain arrived near the polling unit in a Toyota Jeep carrying a large sum of cash intended for distribution. According to him, the development sparked a heated argument that later escalated into a fight.
It was observed that one ADC supporter sustained a head injury during the incident and was immediately taken to a hospital for medical attention.
Speaking on the incident, Bejide said:
“Now you have the sound, the audio, one of them brought money here, they brought it in a sack but we intercepted her, she called the council chairman, and the council chairman came here also. And in a bid to defend themselves, they kept on saying that some ADC members were also distributing money. But they couldn’t mention anybody. But we know where the money was kept. And in a bid to retrieve the money, she called the council chairman, and that caused a lot of commotion here.
“You can see one of my aides was beaten by the security men they brought. The boy had been rushed to the hospital now.”
Despite the incident, the ADC candidate praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the election.
“The electoral personnel have been very diligent, and everything is going on very well. You realise that when you came here a few minutes ago, there was pandemonium here, but the moment they saw you with your camera, they ran away,” he said.