OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested 14 suspected vote buyers across the three states where off-cycle governorship elections were held on Saturday, November 11.
A statement by the commission hours after the polls stated that the buyers were apprehended in Otuoke, Adawari playgrounds in Bayelsa State and at various polling units in Imo and Kogi States.
The EFCC said it intercepted N11 million (N11,040,000) from suspected vote buyers in the three states.
Giving the breakdown of the amount intercepted in each state, the EFCC said N9.3 million (N9,310,000) was intercepted from suspected vote buyers and sellers in Bayelsa, and N1,730,000 million was recovered from electoral fraud suspects across Imo State.
The Commission, however, didn’t state the exact amount recovered in Kogi state.
The commission said the development resulted from intelligence-driven operations that commenced days before the elections in the affected states.
It noted that it intercepted two vehicles from the suspects during the process, adding it will charge the arrested suspects to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
The ICIR checks on the image posted by EFCC showed that one of the suspects arrested for vote buying was a man with an All Progressive Candidate tag hanging around his neck.
The ICIR had reported the top candidates competing for the governorship seats in the three states.
Using data in this report, the organisation highlighted parties’ chances in the states.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M