The police, on Friday, warned both politicians and the electorate in Ekiti State that anyone caught buying or selling votes on Saturday (today) will be arrested and prosecuted.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Johnson Kokumo, said the police would rely majorly on information gathering, stressing that over 17,000 of his men are already in the State.
“The buyer and the seller are always in mutual agreement toward what they intend to do,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily in Ado.
“We will rely heavily on information; we will rely heavily on intel. A seller of vote will not invite the police or make it known in public that he wants to sell his vote. The buyer will equally not make it known to the police that he wants to buy votes; so, it is always something that is done in total secrecy.”
In previous elections, political parties and politicians have been accused of inducing the electorate at polling units, thereby engaging in vote-buying and vote-selling which have been criminalised by the government.
The disturbing rate of such electoral malpractices has become worrisome for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – the nation’s electoral umpire.
INEC, in collaboration with the security agencies and other stakeholders, has embarked on a series of campaigns to curb the trend.
Kokumo, who is leading over 17,000 police personnel and assets deployed for the election in Ekiti, assured residents that the force would do well to address their concerns in that regard.
“I want to assure the good people of Ekiti State that we have our men out there who are on surveillance, gathering information as regards this, and I want to urge members of the public that if you see something, try and say something.
“If you have information concerning those intending to buy votes, and those intending to sell votes, reach out to us. We have emplaced adequate measures to check vote-buying, to check vote-selling, and we have the capacity to locate them wherever they are to effect their arrest, carry out our investigation, and process them through the judiciary; they have both committed an electoral offence for which they will be processed through the court.”
Away from vote-buying and vote-selling, the DIG said actions have been taken to ensure policemen remain neutral throughout the period of the election.
He listed such measures to include training of policemen and withdrawal of personnel attached to Very important Persons (VIPs) as security aides.
“Before now, we have had capacity building for our men, and part of the things we had actually instilled is neutrality in situations like this. So, no officer of the Nigeria Police should be out there for the election assignment and resort to being unnecessarily partial or trying to favour a particular political party against the other,” said Kokumo.
He added: “We’ll remain apolitical, we’ll remain neutral, and we’ll provide adequate security for men and (electoral) materials. We have withdrawn policemen attached to (politicians) in form of aides; to VIPs in order to have a seamless exercise.
“We do not want the situation where those attached to the VIPs are used on the field to cause unnecessary mayhems, to wreak havoc; so, we have withdrawn them. We have equally advised sister agencies to do the same. So, you are not going to find aides attached to VIPs following them for the exercise.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has charged officials and staff of the commission on professionalism and ethical behaviour in todday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
In a statement issued in Abuja, he urged the officials not to compromise in the election.
Yakubu stressed that the Ekiti governorship election was the first election the commission would conduct since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Electoral Act in February.
The statement read: “We have collectively implemented several activities and taken every step to guarantee a free, fair, credible, and inclusive process this Saturday 18th June, 2022, but it will be historic because it will be the first governorship election to be conducted based on the provisions of the new Electoral Act 2022.
“At the stakeholders meeting held last Tuesday, I assured the political parties, their flag bearers, and the good people of Ekiti State that the choice of who becomes the next governor of the state is entirely in the hands of the people.
“Let us remember that the people of Ekiti State, and indeed all Nigerians will be watching us closely and waiting to see if we will fulfill our promise. They will observe the opening time of each of the 2,445 polling units in the state, the conduct of our staff, how to attend to voters and your attitude towards persons with disability.
“I appeal to you to uphold our code of conduct, display your usual sense of responsibility and professionalism, remain above board and firmly resist any unethical behaviour. You must ensure that no political party or candidate is accorded any advantage over the other. We must also always stick to the oath of neutrality to which we have all subscribed and continually live up to the trust that Nigerians repose in us.”