āThe Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akwa Ibom State, Mr Obo Effanga has cautioned the people against engaging in buying and selling of votes, saying apart from the illegal nature of the act, it undermines the electoral process and could bring into power corrupt and selfish politicians.
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āIn a roundtable with the Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community (AKHRC) and the Association of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) in Uyo over the weekend, themed, āStrengthening Electoral Integrity: Assessing INECās Preparedness Towards the 2027 General Elections,ā Effanga said politicians having known that votes will count in 2027 elections, would resort to vote buying, urging the electorates to be wary of such antics.
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āDispelling possibility of biases against any political party in the elections, he said: āI can assure you that I took an oath of office based on the constitution.
āI am appointed to do what is right for the Nigerian people based on what the constitution, electoral act, and guidelines say. My job is to ensure that everybody is given a franchise in the election.
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āāI expect everyone who comes to the elections to conduct themselves credibly. A lot of the problems we have during elections occur when political parties manipulate even their internal elections. INEC doesnāt own an election; anyone involved at any stage should do the right thing.ā
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āEffanga stated that looking critically at Nigeriaās electoral processes from the 1979 general elections to the 2023 polls, one would agree that elections have significantly improved in the country with the deployment of technology.
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āāThe technology we have in Nigeria is far ahead of what you can find in many other places. How many places in the world have technology like BVAS, IREVP?ā He queried.
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āOn the issue of e-voting he said, āFirst of all, how many countries in the world use electronic voting?. There is no democracy in the world that votes electronically.ā
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āāIn the US, there are people who voted with paper ballots. So thereās a mixture of paper ballots and other methods. If somebody says it is electronic voting, it suggests that you can sit in the comfort of your home to vote.ā
On his part, the Convener of AKHRC, Barr. Clifford Thomas commended the REC for enlightening the TBA group about the electoral processes.
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āHe expressed optimism that such information would help all the women making up the group to make well-informed decisions during election time.
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āThomas stressed the need of deepening voter education and citizen participation ahead of the next electoral cycle, noting that early engagement remains critical to building public trust in the process.
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2027: REC cautions against vote trading in Akwa Ibom
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