The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised to forestall political parties planning to buy votes.
The two major parties – All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – in the Ekiti state gubernatorial election which held on Saturday were said to have induced voters with money.
Mohammed Haruna, a national commissioner of INEC, confirmed the commission was working on preventing a repeat of the situation in the Osun governorship election scheduled for September 22.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today held its regular meeting with resident electoral commissioners (REC) from all the states and the federal capital territory (FCT),” the statement read.
“The commission reviewed the conduct of the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti state and preparations for the September 22, 2018 Osun governorship election.
“It noted the satisfactory conduct of the Ekiti Governorship election as attested to by both domestic and international Observers, the Media and other Stakeholders.
“The meeting also noted with deep concern, the rising phenomenon of vote buying during elections and restated its commitment and determination to continue to work with all stakeholders, especially the security agencies, to stem the ugly trend.
“On the upcoming Osun governorship election, the meeting unanimously agreed to further improve on the successes recorded in the Ekiti governorship election
“The meeting also reviewed the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. Against the backdrop of the decision to suspend the exercise from 17th August 2018 until after the 2019 general election, it was resolved that starting from Wednesday 1st of August 2018: i. the CVR exercise will take place between 9am and 5pm (instead of 9am-3pm as obtains presently); ii. there will also be registration on Saturdays and Sundays as well as public holidays (if any) within the period; iii. the exercise will be suspended at 5pm on Friday 17th August until after the 2019 general elections.”