The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to ensure that vote buying at polling units is stopped during elections.
Professor Yakubu made the appeal yesterday when the IGP paid a routine visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, in preparation for Ekiti and Osun States governorship polls as well as 2019 general elections.
The INEC chairman, who expressed worry over the development in recent elections, said vote buying was a malpractice and violation of the Electoral Act.
He said, “Our democracy can never be on sale to the highest bidder, ours is a democracy and not a plutocracy for the rich.
“Therefore, I would like to appeal to the IGP, as we approach the EKiti and Osun governorship elections and as we move to the 2019 general elections to pay particular attention to this disturbing practice.
“We will be happy if the police will deploy special forces beginning with Ekiti and Osun to ensure that what transpires at the polling units is nothing but the will of Nigerians.
“Only the votes cast freely by citizens would determine who wins the elections not the inducement of citizens by the use of cash at polling units during elections,” he said.
Earlier, the IGP said his team would engage in continuous consultations with INEC to synergise ahead of the coming elections.
