THE Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday warned political parties to shun vote-buying during Saturday’s area councils’ election in the Federal Capital Territory or face the full weight of the law.
The commission also warned against the use of mobile phones at polling units, saying violators would be prosecuted.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, issued the warning in Abuja, during a stakeholders meeting held at the NAF Conference Centre.
According to him, the ban on the use of mobile phones and other photographic devices in the voting cubicles was still in force.
“I would like to reiterate that voter inducement in all forms, including vote-buying at polling units, is a violation of the law. The ban on the use of mobile phones and other photographic devices in the voting cubicles is still in force”, Yakubu said.
During the meeting, candidates participating in the poll also resolved to commit to a peaceful and violence-free election.
While reiterating that voter inducement in all forms, including vote-buying at polling units, was a violation of the law, Yakubu said that INEC has accredited 58 observer groups deploying a total of 2,242 field observers, including 45 media organisations with 340 journalists for the poll.
He said 593 polling units in the FCT were without registered voters, 1,328 polling units with between 1-50 voters and 546 polling units with over 1,000 registered voters.
Yakubu consequently declared that the election would not take place at the polling units without registered voters, adding that materials were not produced for these units and no personnel will be deployed there.
He, however, said the commission reviewed the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System in the recent Anambra State Governorship election, saying lessons learnt from the election have been considered in planning for the area council poll.
Yakubu said the BVAS had been configured and ready for deployment for the elections.
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