The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Myson Nejo, has expressed concern over the alleged vote trading that characterised Saturday’s poll in Ondo State.
While frowning over the development, Nejo, who came third in the election with 4,138 votes, maintained that he lost the election due to his refusal to buy votes.
According to him, those who could afford to buy votes from the electorate won the election.
Nejo, who stated this on Sunday, stressed that despite losing the election, he was satisfied with himself.
“I thank the good people of Ondo State for voting for me. Without giving them any money, they still voted for me. I want to believe that my vote is a valid vote because there was nothing like vote-buying or any unethical practices on my side. So far, I want to believe I’m a winner in this election,” he said.
On the issue of vote-buying during the election, Nejo pointedly stated that votes were being bought for as much as N20,000, describing the development as worrisome.
“People were buying votes for N20,000 or N15,000, and in my polling unit, it was N10,000 to N15,000. Because I didn’t have money and I told them I wasn’t going to give even a kobo to buy votes, I ended up with only two votes in my unit and about 40 votes in total.
“But I don’t care. People were calling me, asking for money in exchange for their votes, but I stood my ground. If they want to vote, they should vote. I wasn’t going to give a kobo to buy votes,” Nejo said.
Ondo guber election: I lost because of refusal to buy votes — ADC candidate Nejo
