In the off-cycle governorship elections, agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have seized N11 million in cash and detained fourteen people suspected of buying votes.
The anti-corruption agency said in a late Saturday statement that the Commission had intercepted N11 million in cash in Bayelsa and Imo states and had also arrested 14 (Fourteen) suspected vote buyers on Saturday, November 11, 2023, in an intelligence-driven operation that started a few days before the current governorship elections in the three states.
The accomplishment follows the anti-crime agency’s commitment to crack down on offences related to vote-buying during off-season elections.
The operations took place in Otueke, Adawari playgrounds in Bayelsa State, and at various polling units in Imo and Kogi States.
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Additionally, N9,310,000 (nine million, three hundred and ten thousand naira) was intercepted from suspected vote buyers and sellers in Bayelsa, and N1,730,000 (one million, seven hundred and thirty thousand naira) was intercepted from suspected electoral fraud suspects throughout Imo State. Together, these two amounts totaled N11,040,000 (eleven million, forty thousand naira only).
“Also, two vehicles were intercepted from the suspects. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”
“Any form of voter incitement through vote buying, vote selling, and other manipulation of the electoral processes at variance with the Electoral Act is to be tackled by the Commission’s monitoring operations,” INEC stated.
