Nigerian businessman and social commentator Isaac Fayose has announced an ambitious plan to livestream the upcoming Ekiti State governorship election, saying he intends to provide real-time, ground-level coverage of the electoral process across the state.
In a recent video shared online, Fayose said the project is aimed at exposing alleged electoral malpractice, including vote buying and the conduct of electoral officials and security personnel at polling units.
He claimed the initiative would help ensure transparency by allowing global audiences to witness how the election unfolds.
According to him, he plans to recruit about 1,000 volunteers who would be deployed across selected polling units in the state.
Each volunteer, he said, would be paid ₦5,000 for their participation on election day.Fayose explained that the volunteers would either use their mobile phones or special recording gadgets to livestream activities from different polling units.
He added that the footage would be used to identify and publicly expose individuals allegedly involved in vote buying or other electoral offences.
He further stated that the coverage would not span all polling units but would focus on about 1,000 locations out of the over 2,000 polling units in Ekiti State.
In his words, the aim is to “name and shame” those involved in electoral malpractice, including voters, families, and officials allegedly contributing to the compromise of the electoral process.
He also suggested that the initiative would help determine the credibility of the election outcome, insisting that voter preference in Ekiti is already clear, though he alleged that certain influences may affect the final result.
The announcement has already begun generating mixed reactions online, with some users praising the idea as a form of citizen-led election monitoring, while others raise concerns about legality, safety, and the potential for political tension during the exercise.
As preparations for the Ekiti governorship election continue, attention is now shifting to how such grassroots surveillance initiatives may interact with official monitoring bodies like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and accredited observer groups,
