…says offenders risk fine, one year jail
The Independent Electoral Commission has vowed to sanction politicians found culpable of buying votes from the electorate in the forthcoming general elections.
INEC said such politicians would be prosecuted in court where they risked a fine of N100,000 or 12 months imprisonment.
The electoral body said that it would collaborate with security operatives across the country to effect the arrest of any politicians caught in the act of vote buying and charge them to court
immediately.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent at this year’s World Television Day in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Barr. Mutiu Agboke, who quoted section 130 of the Electoral Act, said that any politician found guilty of the offence would be made to pay a sum of N100,000 or be jailed for one year.
Agboke, who was represented by Mr. David Asemo at the event organised by the Ogun State Chapter of the Broadcast Chapel, spoke on the theme: “General Elections : Duties of Electronic Media (TV) in 2019 elections.”
He said it was high time politicians throughout the country started paying for their sins related to vote buying.
He cited the instance of the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, where politicians were arrested and were made to face the full wrath of the law, noting that some of them had yet to be bailed from prison.
Agboke said, “The Electoral Act, Section 130 says that where the issue of unduly influence at the polling unit is discussed, if you are caught unduly influencing a voter, it’s either by buying or distributing money or distributing bread and butter and all the rest, there is a section of N100,000 or an imprisonment of 12
months.
“Those that distributed money in the Osun election, in fact, some of them are still in the police station now. In fact, they have been taken to court and have not been granted bail. So, if you think you can try it and go scot-free, the law will be there to catch up with you.
“The commission is doing something very serious about it in collaboration with the security agencies. It’s to prevent the occurrence of such in future. Those caught in Osun that were engaging in vote buying, they were arrested and they were taken to court. As I’m talking now, they have not been granted bail. So, there is no way INEC encourages vote buying is from the other way
round.”
The INEC commissioner, however, maintained that INEC had introduced series of innovations, including the Smart Card Readers and Permanent Voter Cards as well as tools to track its operational vehicles in order to enhance the smooth conduct of the 2019 general elections.
The state Chairman of Broadcast Chapel, Mr. Kazeem Olowe, urged INEC to make necessary provisions for the TV and media to enhance smooth coverage of the election.
