THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State Abdulganiyu Raji has said Presiding Officers at polling booths have the power to hand over vote buyers and sellers to security agents.
The REC said this while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
According to him, those buying and selling votes around polling units should be apprehended.
“The Presiding Officer is actually the head of the polling unit. The Presiding Officer has the mandate to hand over whoever is an offender to the security agents.
“But don’t forget we also have three security men at each of the polling units, at least a minimum of three, so it is not difficult handing over such person to the security agents because they are readily present at the polling unit.
“As far as vote buying and selling is concerned, I think myself and the chairman, we are speaking the same thing and saying the same thing. We will work with the security agents to ensure that we tackle the issue of vote buying,” Raji said.
He appealed to people in the communities to help set up the voting cubicles in a way that the secrecy of balloting would be ensured.
Also speaking on the programme, Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and head of the Police Security Team for the Osun Gubernatorial Election, said those around polling units should help to give the police necessary information.
“If anything sinister is happening in and around the polling booth, it beholds on those who are around to inform the policemen who are there.
“We want to see a situation where people who are actually involved in vote buying are handed over to the police.
“We have activated our intelligence network and definitely, that will be for Osun 2022 governorship election.
“Our intelligence network has been put in place, and we believe strongly that it will yield dividends,” Kokumo said.
The Osun State governorship election holds tomorrow, July 16, 2022.
A reporter with the ICIR
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Can Presiding Officers in the Osun gubernatorial poll independently hand over individuals involved in vote buying to the police, and what authority do they have in this regard?
very clear and good article easy to understand. Thank you