Moses Ofodeme
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told security Agencies to be aware that vote buying during elections have remained a key issue that the Commission is working to discourage.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee On Election Security (ICCES), on Tuesday in Abuja, said “There is of course a lot of work to do, especially in combating vote buying. The Commission is happy with our collaboration with the law enforcement agencies, particularly the anti-graft agencies. Beyond the arrest of vote buyers on Election Day, our active partnership has so far resulted in the successful prosecution of some offenders in three States of the Federation. As you are aware, the problem also manifests itself during the party primaries for the election of candidates.”
Yakubu, said that the same way that voters are targeted at Polling Units on Election Day, so too is delegate-buying at the venues of congresses and conventions for the election of candidates.
“As you can see from the Timetable and Schedule of Activities included in your folders for this meeting, party primaries for the Anambra State Governorship election begin next month, followed by the Area Council election in the FCT in June. We should continue to work together in partnership with other critical stakeholders to address the menace.” he declared.
The Chairman, said the Commission has already released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for two major elections. First is the Anambra State Governorship election to be held on Saturday 8th November 2025.
The second is the end-of-tenure Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) scheduled for Saturday 21st February 2026.
For Anambra State, he said election will be held in 5,720 Polling Units while results will be collated at 326 Ward centres, 21 Local Government Areas and the State Collation Centre in Awka.
In the case of the FCT, elections will be held for 68 constituencies made up of six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councillors. We will deploy to 2,822 Polling Units while results will be collated in 62 Wards which constitute the councillorship constituencies. For the six Chairmen, final results will be collated and winners declared at the various Area Council collation centres.
He also said the Commission is also preparing for bye-elections to fill vacancies in the National and State legislative houses, adding “As you are aware, nine bye-elections were conducted last year. Since then, 16 more vacancies have occurred in 12 States of the Federation involving two Senatorial Districts, five Federal Constituencies for election to the House of Representatives and nine State Assembly Constituencies.”
He also said that “In due course, the Commission will make the delimitation details available to you to guide your operational deployment for forthcoming elections.
“This will include the detailed locations of the Polling Units, the Registration Area Centres, the Wards, Local Government and State collation centres. As usual, we will also provide you with information on the terrain, including difficult land and riverine locations. We will also make available to you our preliminary assessment of the security situation that may warrant your special attention.”
Yakubu, pointed out that the experience in the management of logistics during the last Ondo State Governorship election provides the template for future elections.
“Better coordination in the deployment of security and electoral officials contributed to the early commencement of polls and peaceful conduct of the election, in spite of the challenging terrain, especially in the riverine areas. The forthcoming Governorship election in Anambra State must be similarly well coordinated. Together, we should continue to give Nigerians a happy experience on Election Day and beyond.” he concluded.