Ondo 2020: Ondo campaigns to curtail electoral violence

By Maria Ifafesobi

Akure

Ondo State has begun a campaign against electoral violence in the state as part of its plans to curtail violence in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
The campaign which was facilitated by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and United State Agency for International Development (USAID), started with a 3-day advocacy training of youths who are also coordinators of the eighteen local government areas of the state.
Speaking at the event in Akure, the Executive Director of the Pacesetters, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Mr. Jonathan Obatola in his welcome address revealed that the need to embark on the campaign became necessary so as to discourage and curb electoral violence in the forthcoming gubernatorial election.
According to Mr. Obatola, “The objective of the Vote Not Fight campaign is to mitigate incidents of hate speech, electoral violence, and vote-buying during the 2020 off-cycle governorship election in Ondo state through youth-led advocacy, community organizing, and voter education. It also seeks to increase youth voter turnout during the 2020 governorship election in Ondo state through peer to peer awareness creation and sensitization”
He further charged the youths to embrace peace and shun any form of violence all through the election period, adding that it’s time for youths to disregard politicians who may want to buy their votes.
The Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Rufus Akeju, the Acting Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Mrs. Wumi Famuyiwa, and prominent stakeholders were also in attendance.

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