By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
#TrackNigeria: The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mutiu Agboke has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for its efforts at checkmating vote buying in the just concluded 2019 general elections.
A statement issued by the acting Head, Media and Publicity of the Commission, Tony Orilade and made available to Newsdiaryonline Friday said Agboke gave the commendation in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Friday, April 5, 2019, during a post-election stakeholders’ forum organised by Kimpact Development Initiative.
According to the Oyo State INEC boss, EFCC’s involvement in the elections helped to advance the integrity of the electoral process, adding that the intervention of the Commission made a lot of difference.
“I was wondering what they would come to do when the Ibadan Zonal Head, Friday Ebelo, called to tell me that the EFCC would be monitoring the elections. I asked myself ‘what would they be coming to do’. But their participation made a lot of impact on the exercise”, he noted.
It would be recalled that ahead of the 2019, general elections, the EFCC had embarked on a vigorous campaign and enlightenment programmes against vote buying and vote selling as part of the Commission’s effort to check financial crimes in the electoral process and further protect the integrity of the elections.
The campaign, which involved all staff of the Commission, focused on sensitisation of members of the public against the ills of vote buying, as well as deployment of officials of the Commission to polling centres in order to prevent commercialisation of voting.
Magu, who spoke through Jide Jegede, Head, Public Affairs, Ibadan Zonal Office, said that the Commission considered it an honour to play such critical role in preventing the possible subversion of people’s wishes in the elections. He pledged the Commission’s continued effort at stamping out all forms of corruption in the country.
