No Food Sellers Allowed At The Polling Booths – INEC

INEC In Kwara State Make Grand Rules For General Elections.

Following a tip of that, some politicians are planning to use food vendors as vote-buying agents in the forthcoming general elections the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kwara state has said that no one will be allowed to bring food items to polling centres.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Ilorin today, Kwara state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Garba Madami, said that the electoral body now collaborates with anti-graft agencies like EFCC and ICPC to monitor vote buying and selling with determination to reduce it to the barest minimum.

Naija News recalls that the INEC Boss, Professor Mahmud Yakubu had made the allegation that politicians wanted to use food vendors to induce voters. He said this while he hosted the delegation from the European Union (EU) Observation Team in Abuja on Monday this week.

Kwara REC  stated in line with Prof Yakubu, that vehicles would not be allowed near polling centres during the election, adding that “You can’t bring in your phone to the polling booth to snap the picture of your ballot paper to show who you’ve voted for”.

Madami said that politicians had in the past brought in money in vehicles to polling centres to buy votes.

“Now, anti-graft agencies like the EFCC and the ICPC are now monitoring vote buyers and sellers because of our collaboration with them. That’s why money is not circulating in this campaign unlike before.

“More so, our card readers and PVC are working well now. And that’s why politicians are desperate to go for vote buying. If we succeed in this, we would have credible election”, he said.

The REC, who said that February 8, 2019 is the last day for PVC collection, added that there are over 300,000 outstanding PVCs yet to be collected in the state.

He said that voting would take place in a total of 2,886 polling points across the state, adding that no one would be disenfranchised in the election as long as they possess PVC for voting.

Madami also noted that pregnant women, old people and physically challenged ones would be given preference to vote without queuing up, adding that political parties and voters would not be allowed to carry arms during the election except their PVCs.

He noted that political parties that had signed the Peace accord with the electoral body had risen to 29 and cautioned political parties to be mindful of their actions, speeches in order not to cause violence before, during and after the elections.