News Editor
Ahead of of Saturday’s area council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned political parties in the FCT to desist from vote buying and other forms of inducement or face the full wrath of the law.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, The INEC Chairman gave the warning in Abuja, on Tuesday, February 8 during a stakeholders’ meeting. Yakubu said the ban on use of mobile phones and other photographic devices at voting centres is still in effect.
Yakubu noted that voter inducement in all forms, including vote buying at polling units, is a violation of the electoral law and should be prohibited.
At the parley, candidates for the election resolved to be peaceful and ensure a free and fair exercise.
The Guardian reports that the INEC boss disclosed that the commission has accredited 58 observer groups, deploying 2,242 field observers, including 45 media organisations deploying 340 journalists for Saturday’s poll.
He said 593 polling units in the nation’s capital are without registered voters, 1,328 units have between 1-50 voters, while 546 others have over 1,000 registered voters.
Yakubu declared that election would not take place at units without registered voters, adding that materials were not produced for such units and no personnel would be deployed to them.
He said the commission has reviewed the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the November 6, 2021 Anambra State governorship election, noting that lessons learnt from the poll were considered in planning for the FCT poll.
