INEC Uncovers New Methods Of Vote-Buying

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 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.

Source:- Punchng