INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the appeal on Thursday in Abuja while receiving the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, on a visit to the commission. Mr. Yakubu said: “INEC is worried by the recent trend of open vote buying at polling stations. Only votes of citizens should determine who wins election. Our democracy must never be on sale, it is the will of the people that should determine who wins.
Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working very closely with the EFCC to ensure that open vote buying will not be tolerated by the commission. “The second area is about party and campaign finance. The Electoral Act presents limit as to the amount parties and individuals can spend for election and also the amount that friends of candidates and parties can contribute in any election.”
“I want the EFCC to uphold that mandate in every capacity to track and to trace sources of funds and to work closely with us. Our democracy can never be on sale and by working closely with the EFCC we can achieve that. In his remarks, the EFCC acting chairman called Nigerians to fight corruption in any way they can, saying “every evil in Nigeria is caused by corruption.” Mr. Magu said EFCC was collaborating with INEC on a series of investigation and prosecution.
