Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has urged security agencies, particularly the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to go after vote buyers on Election Day in Edo state.
He made the call in Benin, the Edo state capital recently, when he met with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
Prof. Yakubu noted that due to the local and international interests in the Edo governorship election, there was the need for synergy between INEC and the security agencies to facilitate the conduct a credible, peaceful and generally acceptable election.
Underscoring the dangers posed by vote buying, he called on the ICPC and EFCC to protect the integrity of the process, saying: “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.”
He continued: “In any case, if people are buying votes, it means that the votes are counting. 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.”
On his part, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nemo Edwin-Iwo, assured of adequate security before, during and after the election. He said the Police had reviewed its strategy for securing the state and finalised arrangements in synergy with other security agencies to deploy enough security personnel drawn from Edo and other states to dominate the space and provide maximum security.
Edwin-Iwo also assured that non-state actors would not be allowed to undermine the process. He disclosed that security agencies have begun clamping down on groups and individuals that may be planning to disrupt the electoral process in Edo state.