The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says speedy passage of the National Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal Bill
\nby the National Assembly\u00a0 will checkmate vote buying.<\/p>\n
The bill, meant to provide the legal framework for\u00a0 investigation and prosecution of electoral offences for the general improvement of the electoral process in Nigeria, on June 30,\u00a0 passed second reading in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
The Senate had in July 2021,\u00a0 passed a similar bill, which had seven parts and 48 sections, and sought to take the \u201cburden\u201d of prosecuting electoral offenders off INEC.<\/p>\n
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC)\u00a0 in Lagos State, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, told NAN on Sunday that\u00a0 \u00a0if passed, the bill would ensure speedy trial of electoral offenders.<\/p>\n
He said that if electoral offenders,\u00a0 including vote buyers and voter sellers were arrested and quickly prosecuted, there would be more sanity in the 2023 general elections.<\/p>\n
Agbaje, however, said that the battle against vote buying in whatever shapes or\u00a0 forms, must be fought to a\u00a0 standstill by all stakeholders in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many issues to this matter. The judicial aspect\u00a0 is there, security agencies are there.\u00a0 INEC cannot monitor all these offenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no way we can be conducting elections and at the same time, watching people that are buying the conscience of voters with money, food or other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why the commission has been asking the national assembly regularly to finish its work on the\u00a0 electoral offences commission and tribunal bill to become law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have this, it will be just like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to monitor and investigate the menace of vote buying and other offences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be like security agency for INEC. Their job will be purposely for this and they will be all out on election day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vote buyers and sellers are giving INEC a bad name, however,\u00a0 it is not the duty of INEC to monitor this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Agbaje advised that all stakeholders should engage politicians on vote buying ahead of the\u00a0 2023 general\u00a0 elections, and talk to them as actors
\nsponsoring and encouraging this menace.<\/p>\n
The REC decried the delay in prosecuting\u00a0 \u00a0 electoral offences\u00a0 in Nigeria, describing it as frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we see this kind of thing, we get frustrated. The judiciary also has to do something. What is the court waiting for in some of these electoral offences?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, in Kenya and other countries , within two hours, an electoral case will be judged.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people are jailed for\u00a0 electoral offences, I am sure by 2023,\u00a0 everybody will be careful; but because there is no punishment, people just feel they can do anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it is not just between INEC and political parties, judiciary also has a role to play. They must assist us to ensure that whatever case is brought is promptly judged to serve as deterrent ,\u201d the INEC boss said.<\/p>\n
According to him, if a case that is simple and can be judged within two weeks is left for three years, and people do not see any action, they feel that if they do it again, nothing will happen to them and that their godfathers will also protect them.<\/p>\n
He explained that the security, judiciary, INEC, national assembly, political parties, NGOs and other critical stakeholders had roles to
\nplay in fighting vote buying and vote selling.<\/p>\n
Agbaje said that it remained\u00a0 an offence for any voter to display his or her ballot after casting vote for anyone to see, saying:\u00a0 \u201d If we have that agency we are talking about, that is their job to position officers to monitor all these.\u201d<\/p>\n
The INEC chief added that even before elections, every illegal transfer of money to thousands of voters would be monitored and investigated by
\nthe agency.<\/p>\n
According to him, INEC will intensify efforts in situating polling booths in such a way that it will not allow voters to display their\u00a0 ballot paper after voting to\u00a0 vote buyers, so as to get paid for voting
\ntheir party.<\/p>\n
He, however,\u00a0 pointed out that in the 2023 general elections, INEC would discuss with members of the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on
\nElection Security (ICCES) on ways to fight the menace.<\/p>\n
Agbaje, however, urged Nigerians and politicians to change theirorientation about elections, saying in countries like Republic of Ireland, elections were not monitored by policemen or party agents at the polling booths on election day.<\/p>\n
He said that with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the 2023 elections will be better and more credible, adding that votes would count in Lagos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says speedy passage of the National Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal Bill by the National Assembly\u00a0 will checkmate vote buying. The bill, meant to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n