The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has hinted on plans to deploy undercover agents to polling units for the 2023 general elections, in a bid to cut down on the menace of vote buying.
The INEC Chairman on Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this in Abuja during a citizens’ election dialogue themed, “What makes a good election in Nigeria.”
According to Okoye, the commission will deploy undercover security personnel on election day.
He said, “We have also made sure that people do not enter the voting compartments with their mobile phones that can take pictures and we’re also collaborating with the different security agencies under the auspices of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security to make sure that plain cloth security personnel is deployed to some polling units on election day to stem the issue of vote buying and vote selling.
“This commission is focused and determined to give Nigerians a good election. In terms of the issue of vote buying, the commission has reconfigured the various polling units to guarantee the secrecy of the votes.
“It’s fashionable to grandstand relating to the commitment of the INEC to free, fair and transparent elections. But you should also flip back and look at some of the party primaries that some of the political parties conducted and how well they conducted them.”
Okoye reiterated the commission’s commitment to delivering free, fair and credible elections for all Nigerians in collaboration with security agencies.
According to the INEC National Commissioner, the commision will continue to train its members of staff towards ensuring a hitch-free poll.
He said the training will ensure that election officials know how to configure and position the voting cubicle to guarantee the secrecy of the votes.
“INEC will make sure technology is deployed and we’re also going to make sure that we transmit polling unit results into our INEC viewing portal,” he added.
