Osun REC, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, addressing members of the press at INEC head office Osogbo. Photo: Femi Dawodu
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said it had
discovered new methods to be used by some politicians to buy votes in
the forthcoming general elections.
Speaking at an interactive session with traditional rulers in Osun
State, the INEC National Commissioner, Mr Festus Okoye, however, warned
that any politicians caught buying votes or engaging in acts that could
have negative effects on the elections would be punished.
Okoye, who was represented by the Osun State Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Mr Segun Agbaje, said the commission had been informed
that some people were inducing voters to release their PVCs or Voter
Identification Numbers.
He said the intention behind the moves was to either stop the
owners of the cards from voting or to attempt using the VIN to hack into
the commission’s website and preload card readers ahead of the
elections.
He said, “We have introduced a partial ban on the use of mobile
phones and other photographic devices by voters while in the voting
cubicles. Also, we are introducing the rolling and flattening of ballot
papers by voters before casting them into the ballot boxes.
“However, new methods of vote-buying are being devised. We have
received credible information that some partisan actors are now buying
PVCs from voters or financially inducing them to collect the Voter
Identification Numbers on their PVCs. In some instances, telephone
numbers and details of bank accounts of voters have been collected.”
He, however, assured the public that the commission would work with
the security agents to deal with the violators of electoral laws.
Agbaje said anyone found guilty of buying votes would pay either a
fine of N1m or be sentenced to one year in prison, adding that multiple
registration, impersonation and being in possession of more than one PVC
would attract N1m fine or a 12-month jail term or both.
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, urged royal fathers in the
state to ensure that there was peace before and during the elections in
their areas.