Ahead of the September 22 governorship election in Osun State, Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, has warned against vote buying and usage of mobile phones at polling units.
Agbaje , while addressing newsmen at the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel, Osogbo stressed that commission would guide against vote selling and buying as well as usage of mobile phones during casting of ballots.
According to him, “It is embarrassing to have three security agents at a polling unit and vote buying still takes place at such polling unit, right in front of these security people.
“We have been talking with politicians because if they don’t bring money to the polling units, nobody would be selling their votes.
“Even according to law, vote buying is a serious offense, but INEC is not empowered to arrest people, and security officials arranged for the elections are not doing anything when this kind of situation is taking place.
“As a retired security personnel myself, I will also be going round the polling units too and arrest people who engage in vote buying.
“You will agree with me that Osun is the last major election before 2019 general election, it naturally serves as a template for the general election so, All hands must be on deck to ensure credible process”, he said.
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