Jonathan Nwokpor
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Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has called on security agencies, in particular the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to focus on those who intend to purchase votes on election day in Edo State.
He made the request on Tuesday during a meeting with members of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, or ICCES, in Benin, the capital of Edo State.
Yakubu stated that there were interests in the outcome of the Edo State gubernatorial election on a national and international level.
He emphasised that coordination between security agencies and the Commission is essential to guaranteeing that the election is widely accepted as legitimate and peaceful.
In order to address this growing issue, he underlined the threat and dangers that vote-buying posed to Nigeria’s democratic process and asked the ICPC and EFCC to put effective tactics into place.
His words, “You need to deploy a strategy for combating vote buying. It has been a feature in our elections and the more INEC improves on the processes, the more some people try to beat the process by now going to buy the votes at the polling units.
“In any case, if people are buying votes, it means that the votes are counting, that is why they are buying the votes, but we can’t allow vote buyers to determine who wins our democratic elections. It is a democracy of the people, by the people, for the people and not a plutocracy which is only open for the rich”.
Nemo Edwin-Iwo, the commissioner of police for Edo State, promised sufficient security prior to, during, and following the election.
In addition to confirming that plans had been finalised in coordination with other security agencies to deploy enough security personnel from both Edo and other states to dominate the area and guarantee maximum security throughout the election process, he said the police had reviewed and improved their strategy for securing the state.
Additionally, CP Edwin-Iwo guaranteed that non-state actors would not be permitted to taint the election process.
He said that security agencies have already started taking action against persons and groups who might be planning to sabotage the Edo State polls.
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