Ekiti 2022: We cannot stop vote-buying, INEC confesses

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed that the commission cannot give assurance of total eradication of vote-buying in the June 18 Ekiti governorship election.

INEC National Commissioner, Mr Festus Okoye, made this disclosure on Channels TV on Friday.

The commissioner said the commission is in partnership with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to address issue of vote buying and inducement.

He added that the commission has trained ad hoc staff who would assist greatly the election and its process.

“INEC as a commission cannot guarantee that there won’t be any vote-buying in this election.

“We have also told them (ad hoc staff) to advise the voters when they come to vote not to enter the voting compartment with any electronic gadgets that can take photographs.

“By so doing, we believe we can guarantee at least the secrecy of the vote, not that people will vote, snap them when they have voted and show somebody else,” Okoye said.

He added, “We have also held a series of meetings with the ICPC, EFCC, and other security agencies who would have some of their plainclothes officers at some of the polling units by making sure no one comes to the place and corrupts the process.”

Okoye revealed that 988,923 are to vote in the governorship poll in the 16 LGAs and 177 registration areas.

MOUTHPIECE NGR had gathered that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are the leading contenders in the election.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.