By Peter Dansu Security agencies have intensified their clampdown on electoral malpractices, arresting suspected vote buyers with huge sum...
By Peter Dansu
Security agencies have intensified their clampdown on electoral malpractices, arresting suspected vote buyers with huge sums of cash in Kaduna and Ogun States ahead of Saturday’s bye-elections.
In Kaduna, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, working in synergy with the Department of State Services (DSS), apprehended a suspect identified as Shehu Aliyu Patangi around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday. He was picked up at a popular hotel along Turunku Road, Kaduna metropolis, with ₦25,963,000 in cash, allegedly meant for voter inducement.
Spokesman of the Kaduna Police Command, DSP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the arrest, noting that preliminary investigations indicated the money was intended to compromise the electoral process.
According to him, the suspect has already confessed to the crime and pleaded for leniency. He quoted the Commissioner of Police, CP Rabiu Muhammad, as warning that security agencies will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the credibility of elections.
“The suspect was arrested with the said amount, believed to have been earmarked for bribing voters. He confessed to the crime and begged for mercy. Let it be known that anyone found attempting to sabotage the electoral process will face the full wrath of the law,” the CP stated.
Meanwhile, in Ogun State, security operatives also made a significant breakthrough as they arrested individuals suspected to be staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alongside a politician allegedly linked to vote-buying schemes.
The suspects were nabbed at a hotel in Iperu-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area, in the early hours of Saturday. A viral video of the incident shows a male and female INEC official squatting as they were interrogated by security operatives.
Intelligence reports, according to the officers on ground, revealed that the officials had been compromised with a large sum of money allegedly handed over by some party figures, including suspected members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to influence the outcome of the bye-election.
Authorities have since assured Nigerians that the suspects in both Kaduna and Ogun cases are in custody and will be prosecuted in accordance with the law, as security agencies reaffirm their commitment to safeguarding the nation’s democracy.
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