As Ekiti State prepares for its June 18 governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has declared that Buy and Selling of votes popularly known as “dibo koo sebe” will not be allowed in the june 18, 2022 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State.
The Commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committe, Festus Okoye made the declaration in Ado Ekiti, on Saturday, during a day training workshop organised for Ekiti journalists in preparation for the impending governorship poll.
He revealed that various mechanisms have been put in place to monitor and ensure that vote buying the practice is not allowed during election in Ekiti on june 18.
Okoye who frowned at “debo koo sebe” practice, disclosed that it is criminal offence, warning that any political party caught engaging such practice during the election will be prosecuted.
The National Commisioner INEC’s National Commissioner however advised journalists to be professional, fair, neutral and be guilded by the rules of election reporting while covering the poll.
He pointed out that part of the constitutional frameworks designed for the success of any election, is freedom of press, warning that this shouldn’t be abused to prevent violence during election.
“Before journalists can monitor election in any state, he must have good knowledge of the social, political, economic, and geographical composition of that environment.
” He must also understand the security situation, because all these differ from state to state.
“They must also have a deep knowledge of the laws guiding the conduct of elections. They must know what laws permit regarding the information you dish out.
Media personnel are not permitted to give out information that can mislead the populace and ignite violence on the day of election. They have to be accurate .
“In this election, we appeal to you to be neutral, non-partisan, ethical and professional in the discharge of your duties, so that we can record success together and conduct election that can be acceptable to all”, he said.
Also speaking at the workshop, the participants, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ekiti State, Dr. Adeniran Tella, appealed to voters not to treat their Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs) as instruments for mere identification, saying they are to be deployed to vote on election day.
“PVCs is not designed as identification card, it is for voting. We want to do away with this voter apathy and we are starting with Ekiti election. I salute our women for participating well in registration. 71% of them had also collected their PVCs.
“We are assuring the People Living with Disabilities that their interests will be protected by the commission.
“They are Nigerians with inalienable rights to vote and we shall provide enabling environment for them to vote in this election, we have made adequate provision for them”.
Photos from the workshop:
