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By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
Politicians and the electorate have been advised to say no to vote buying and selling and all forms of inducement and money laundering associated with political campaigns and elections during the forthcoming November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State.
Addressing participants at a Stakeholder’s Roundtable on the November 11 Governorship Election in Bayelsa State, the executive director of Centre for Transparency Advocacy, CTA, Madam Faith Nwadishi, said citizens’ choice must never be subverted by the negative use of money to influence votes, including the criminal purchase of PVCs by politicians.
Nwadishi, who was represented by MacDonald Ekemezie, noted the value of votes cast by the electorate, which makes politicians scramble for them, adding that there should be no buying and selling of votes as this will hamper development in the state.
“We recognize clearly that the symbolic presence of law enforcement agents at polling units on election has not deterred vote buying. It is therefore, important that a more result-oriented method like covert operations be adopted to curb this menace. An early warning flagging by the Central Bank and commercial institutions will as well alert anti-graft agencies to track illicit money intended to usurp the wills of the people through rigging of elections induced by money”.
Nwadishi described security as a critical aspect of the electoral process that requires attention during the entire electoral process, adding that INEC has recently raised alarm and fears, indicating that insecurity may pose a great challenge to the governorship election.
“Citizens too have had cause to worry over the issue of insecurity in the state, and if this is unchecked, it may discourage citizens from coming out to exercise their franchise on election day.”
We expect better synergy between the Police, the lead security agency on election security and other members of the inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCESS), with stakeholders on election. At least, this will go a long way to instil confidence in the people prior, during election day and after election”.
She said one of the greatest challenges faced by INEC on election days is the movement of personnel and materials, adding that this has hampered operations, leading to delay in commencement of elections.
“Therefore, we appeal to the unions to keep an eye on their members to ensure that when they take personnel and materials to designated locations, they also bring them back at the end of the elections. We implored the Maritime Union to ensure that personnel and materials are moved to the riverine areas without encumbrances”.
On his part, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Bayelsa State, Obo Effanga, said, INEC is committed and prepared for credible and successful governorship election in the state.
“INEC is prepared for this election, we will do all we could to ensure that the election is successful, the only way anybody can win this election, is to get voters voting for them, therefore the political parties and candidates should be campaign now.
“We promised to do our best to ensure that this election is credible,” he said.
According to him, INEC will deploy BIVAS in all the polling units, adding that out of the 1,056 862 total registered voters in the state, 566,755 are male while 490,767 are female.
Also speaking, the chairman of Maritime Union in Bayelsa State, comrade, Ogoniba Ipigansi, said they are fully ready and that the union has prepared 1005 boats, which are service-ready, for the exercise.
Other participants that pledged their readiness and commitment to credible polls, include the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerian Correctional Service, National Orientation Agency (NOA) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp.
