From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said it has taken a tough stance against vote-buying and vote-selling ahead of the Saturday July 16, 2022  governorship poll in Osun State and the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
Besides, the commission has created additional 1,607 polling units in Oyo State, bringing the total number of polling units in the state to 6,390 from 4,783. The commission has also approved in line with Section 33 of Electoral Act, fresh primaries for the Accord in the state based on withdrawal of some of the candidates, whose names had been submitted to INEC.
The outgoing Residents Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Oyo State, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, made the disclosure in his address, at the valedictory programme and media briefing held at Dr. Mutiu Agboke Collation Centre, INEC state office, Agodi, Ibadan, on Tuesday.
The REC also solicited the cooperation and support of critical stakeholders for the new REC that would succeed him. He will officially disengage from the commission today (Wednesday), having completed his statutory five-year term as REC, if his appointment is not renewed for another period of five years.
According to him, “With less than 10 months towards the forthcoming general elections, the commission is prepared to conduct credible, free and fair elections in the state. However, issue of vote-buying remains a major area of concern. The commission appreciates the roles being played by the anti-corruption and security agencies in apprehending some of the perpetrators of this brazen assault on our democracy.
“In particular, we are working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to ensure the prosecution of persons arrested in the recent Ekiti State governorship election. Action will commence as soon as the EFCC completes its investigation. I appeal to all security agencies and political class to continue to join hands with the commission to tackle this menace.”
Agboke, who stated that the four and half years he spent in the state has boosted the acceptability and credibility of INEC in the state, stated that the lessons the commission learnt during the conduct of guber poll in Ekiti State would be leveraged on to improve the conduct of governorship poll in Osun State this month. The commission, he said, has been taking steps to guard against vote-buying by inviting anti-corruption and security agencies to work with INEC in the conduct of the exercise.
The REC also noted that the use of  Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) by the commission for the conduct of elections, “is indeed a game changer. Therefore, snatching of ballot boxes and election results are now foregone issues in the electoral process,” adding that from each of the polling units, result sheets of the votes cast would be sent to the central portal of INEC in Abuja, which cannot be altered by anyone, and would be accessible to all that log on to the commission’s website.
Agboke noted that as at 2019 general elections, a total of 2,934,107 registered voters were in Oyo State, adding that over 230,607 persons have completed registration in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in the state. He revealed that additional Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) machines have been deployed to areas of pressure in the state towards facilitating the in-person (physical) registration aspect of CVR.
He also has words for political parties, saying: “it should be noted that political parties have a constitutional and legal obligation to be meticulous, subject the list and personal particulars of their candidates to due scrutiny before submitting to the commission. All candidates must have emerged from validly conducted primaries, and must meet the eligibility criteria set out in the constitution for contesting various offices.
“By Section 29(8) of the  Electoral Act 2022, any political party, which presents to the commission the name of a candidate, who does not meet the qualification relating to constitutional requirements of eligibility, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to the fine of N10million.”
Agboke urged residents of the state to ensure collection of their permanent voter cards (PVCs), which he described as key to participation in the upcoming elections. He said: “The current voting system is such that without the PVC, no electorate shall be allowed to vote under any condition. It is no more news that INEC has phased out the use of Smart Card Reader and the use of incident forms. This is to ensure the sanctity and the originality of the results of elections.
“Stakeholders must know that results of the elections emanate from the polling units. Those results are now we’ll protected, using IReV, which is the Result Viewing Portal on Election Day. From this portal, you can follow by viewing various results as declared at various polling units. I hope that various security agents shall do the needful by ensuring that polling units are not disrupted in the course of voting on election day “