THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it has arrested over 65 persons allegedly involved in vote-buying and inducement across 28 states during the governorship and House of Assembly elections that held on Saturday, March 18.
A statement issued on the same day signed by the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said that the commission’s operatives of the Kaduna zonal command on election monitoring duty nabbed 13 suspects.
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It stated that the teams monitoring the polls in the Port Harcourt Zone also arrested a total of 12 persons for various offences bordering on inducing voters with money to vote their preferred candidates.
The statement also mentioned that four vote buyers were arrested in Calabar.
It further disclosed that 13 suspects comprising 10 males and three females were arrested in Kaduna State.
The statement read, “They were apprehended by operatives working on intelligence, or chanced upon them during the monitoring exercise. A suspect allegedly involved in vote buying was nabbed at School Road, Unguwan Rimi Kaduna. The suspect, who initially resisted arrest, is however in custody pending the conclusion of the investigation.”
It also said that officers of the commission caught Buhari Muhammed in Polling Unit 002, Dogara Yaro Dagari area, with voter coupons, which he confessed would be used to trace and pay those who voted for his party.
The officers of the commission as well apprehended the Woman Leader of a political party, Esther Edem, and Edet Etim and Asanwana Eyo for alleged vote buying in Calabar.
According to the statement, “The Woman Leader, who had a list of suspected voters, their account numbers and thousands of naira in cash, was apprehended inside an uncompleted building beside her ward in Calabar South, while Etim and Eyo were arrested at Ward 12, Unit 11, at Kings Memorial School by Inyang Street, Abasi Obori, Calabar South.
“The duo of Etim and Eyo had with them their own lists and money they allegedly used in buying vote.”
The Gombe Zonal Command of the commission also recorded the arrest of 10 persons for alleged voter inducement.
Investigation by the EFCC revealed that the mode of operation of the suspects was through cash, transfer, coupons and sending recharge cards to eligible voters in order to induce them to vote for their candidates.