Our Reporters
THE July 16 governorship election in the State of Osun had a turnout of underage voters.
OSUN DEFENDER reporters who monitored the exercise statewide noted the presence of teenagers who had voter cards, and turned out to cast their votes.
The situation was practically evident at Ward 09, Unit 01, Akoda, Ede South Local Government as well as Ward 08, Units 02 and 01, IleOgbo in Ayedire local government area of the state.
The situation was also the same at Ataoja ‘A’ Ward 01 Units 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 as well as in Ward 04 and 05, Osogbo local government.
It was a similar occurrence in places like Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Ikirun, Ila, Iwo among others.
Inquiring why the young voters besieged the polling units, a resident who voted at Ward 08, Unit 02, Ayedire local government, and prayed not to be named, attributed the influx of the underage voters to the voter inducement in the election.
She noted that a lot of parents jacked up the age of their children to ensure that they registered during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise CVR, as they wanted them to benefit from the largesse dolled out by political parties at the poll.
She said: “I had envisaged this will happen. A lot of people were here during the CVR. This is because they knew the parties would share money during this election. That was what happened. People brought their children here to register. That is why they are here in their numbers to vote.
“All of the parties here are buying votes and that’s why these teenagers have been mobilised to come and vote for their parties.”
Condemning the development, a rights activist, Comrade Femi Adebisi, said the situation is an ugly trend in the nation’s democracy.
Adebisi said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders should ensure that voter inducement and vote buying are nipped in the bud, saying it not healthy for the country’s democracy.
He said: “Underage voting is unconstitutional. It should be curbed. Perpetrators should face the juvenile charges. It is that bad. We must do everything to sanitise our democracy. Non-eligible voters should be disallowed from voting. Parents should desist from such.”
