By Olajide Idowu
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun, Dr Mutiu Agboke, has called for collaboration between Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
Agboke made the call during his advocacy visits to electoral stakeholders in the state on Wednesday.
Speaking at the office of the FRSC Sector Commander in Osun, Mr Paul Okpe, Agboke said that many politicians still believed that elections in Nigeria was business as usual, adding that they had yet to wake up to the new reality.
“Election management in Nigeria is a multiplier activity and every stakeholder must deliver, based on the statutory responsibilities regarding elections.
“Many politicians are desperate and believe in bribing to win elections because they still live in the past.
“INEC has introduced technology to the electoral system and it cannot be bypassed, even though we are aware that vote buying is ongoing.
“We are going to be careful and whoever is responsible for such, whether INEC staffers or politicians, will be shamed and prosecuted,” he said.
Agboke said that INEC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with transport unions to address transportation logistics during the 2023 general elections.
He expressed the commission’s preparation and determination to organise the 2023 elections without any hitch, even as he solicited for FRSC’s support to make the exercise a success.
The REC appealed for the cooperation and collaboration of FRSC to ensure smooth elections in the state in 2023.
In his response, the FRSC sector commander said that the corps’ national headquarters was worried about the conducts of many politicians during election period, coupled with the issue of electoral violence.
Okpe, however, expressed optimism that Nigeria would get it right and that next year’s elections would be credible and violence-free.
He said his command had received a directive from FRSC headquarters to work with INEC in carrying out its statutory duties.
“We have hope and all hands will be on deck to deliver credible elections, come 2023,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Agboke later visited the Nigerian Customs Service, Osun Command, where the Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Mr Sa’ad Abubakar, pledged the service’s support to the commission. (NAN)
