Ahead the July 16 Osun State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Saturday said it is monitoring security situation ahead of the election. The commission also said it will prosecute those arrested for vote buying during the just concluded Ekiti State governorship election. The Commission said it is working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure those caught are brought to justice.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said actions will commence as soon as investigations are completed. Yakubu gave the hint during a special meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) at the Commission’s Headquarters. According to him “arising from the experience of the recent Ekiti State governorship election, the commission is keeping a close watch on the security situation in Osun State. Although it is generally calm at the moment, we are nevertheless concerned about reports of clashes in some places.
“In one recent example, the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) was disrupted in Erin Oke and Erin Ijesha Wards of Oriade Local Government Area resulting in the loss of 46 PVCs. While the matter is being investigated by the police, the collection of PVCs for the affected Wards is now taking place in the INEC office in Ijebu-Jesha.
“Meanwhile, the State office has compiled the Voter Identification Numbers (VINs) of the cards and the Commission has already reprinted the PVCs for the affected voters. I would like to assure all valid registrants in Osun State that no one will be disenfranchised on account of such incident. It is futile for anyone to attempt to vote using another person’s PVC. The BVAS biometric accreditation will expose such fraud and persons apprehended will be prosecuted under the law”.
The INEC boss stated further that the Commission is disturbed by the menace of vote buying during elections. “In particular, we are working with the EFCC to ensure the prosecution of persons arrested in the recent Ekiti Governorship election. Action will commence as soon as the EFCC completes its investigation. I appeal to all security agencies to continue to join hands with the Commission to tackle this menace,” he said.
Meanwhile, Yakubu, who decried the level of controversies trailing the primary elections conducted by political parties to elect their candidates, said that Nigerian elections are the most litigated in Africa.
On his part, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), commended INEC and security agencies for the success of the Ekiti election. The NSA who was represented by Sanusi Galadima, noted that, “records from the conduct of the last Ekiti State Governorship election indicated an impressive performance by the INEC as well the ICCES member agencies as there were no any major incident of security concern recorded during and after the election.
“However, more needs to be done in terms of enlightenment campaign to encourage voters to come out and cast their votes on the day of the election. This is because of the low turnout recorded during the election compared to the total number of registered voters in the State”.