The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised to combat the threat of vote buying before the general elections in 2023. Festus Okoye, the chairman of the INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, said that the commission will send out undercover security people on election day at a citizens’ election debate in Abuja on the topic of “What makes a good election in Nigeria.” He reaffirmed the commission’s dedication to working with security agencies to conduct credible, free, and open elections for all Nigerians.
“We have also made sure that people do not enter the voting compartments with their mobile phones that can take pictures and we’re also collaborating with the different security agencies under the auspices of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security to make sure that plain clothe security personnels are deployed to some polling units on election day to stem the issue of vote buying and vote selling,” Okoye said.
“This commission is committed to providing the Nigerian people with a successful election. The commission has reorganised the numerous polling places in order to ensure the confidentiality of the votes in relation to the issue of vote buying. It’s fashionable to grandstand relating to the commitment of the INEC to free, fair and transparent election. But you should also flip back and look at some of the party primaries that some of the political parties conducted and how well they conducted them.”
The INEC National Commissioner stated that the electoral organisation will keep up its employee training in order to guarantee a smooth election. He explained that the action is being taken to make sure that election officials are aware of how to set up and place the polling cubicle so as to maintain the confidentiality of the votes.
According to Okoye, INEC will “ensure that technology is implemented and that results from polling units are transmitted into our INEC viewing platform.”
