The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has identified the solutions to curb vote-buying and violence in the electoral process.
The Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke, who spoke at a 2-day workshop organized by the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) for political stakeholders in the State, emphasized the importance of encouraging electorate to vote rather than compelling them will violence or monetary incentives.
He commended the IPAC for organizing workshop for the political parties on the discussion that affecting electoral process.
According to him, “Violence is one of the cankerwood bedeviling the success of elections in Nigeria, stakeholders are also the one to also come to be able to understand how to comfort themselves, how to ensure that people are better encouraged to vote than being compelled to vote. Because if you unleash terror, if you unleash violence, you are forcing people to vote in a direction.
“I want to appreciate the initiative by the inter party Advisory Council, Osun state chapter. It is very rare for you to see them as politicians coming up with this kind of workshop with a view to talking to themselves, particularly on issues that is affecting them vis a vis the election and eletioineering process.
“Vote buying is a tendency that came into the election process is not from nowhere but from political stakeholders.
Speaking, the Chairman the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Osun State, Victor Akande said the council organized the workshop to discuss and find solutions to the issue of violence and vote buying in electioneering process.
Akande described vote-buying as “evil” noting that it’s affecting the democracy and causing problems for the political system.
He said, “We are here today for a workshop on which we call our democracy the way forward, and we are discussing two issues, that is violence, and vote buying, which we believe is evil and it’s affecting our democracy as political parties we need to come together to see the way forward in order to tackle these two issues that’s caused a lot of problems for our political system, and that is why we are held today.”
