The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has raised the alarm over alleged incidents of vote buying in one of the local government areas of Anambra State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Amupitan, who disclosed this during a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday at the Prof. Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre, Awka, warned that some individuals were determined to cause confusion and undermine the credibility of the polls through vote buying.
He assured stakeholders that despite such distractions, the commission remained fully committed to conducting a free, fair, and credible election in the state.
‘INEC is fully prepared for this election’, he declared. ‘We will not tolerate any acts capable of compromising the integrity of the electoral process’.
In his remarks, the Supervising Chairman for the Anambra governorship election and Chairman of the INEC Tenders Board, Dr Ken Ikeagu, announced that a total of 6,879 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines had been fully configured and tested ahead of the poll.
He added that more than 3,000 vehicles had been secured for the movement of election officials and the conveyance of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, and that 83 boats would be deployed for riverine areas.
Dr Ikeagu further disclosed that 2,802,790 voters were registered to participate in the election.
