TheCable

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to extend the prosecution of suspects arrested for vote-buying in Ekiti, to their sponsors. 

On Saturday, TheCable reported how the EFCC arrested some suspects for engaging in vote-buying during the Ekiti governorship election.

Some of the suspects were paraded at Oke Ori Omi police division.

Also, Kemi Elebute-Halle, the Ekiti governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), had alleged that other political parties were involved in vote-buying.

At the end of the poll, Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election. 

In a statement on Sunday, which was signed by Olanrewaju Suraju, HEDA chairman, the civil society organisation (CSO) commended EFCC  for swiftly arresting persons committing election malpractices. 

“We commend EFCC for swift actions at the Ekiti elections. We demand full prosecution of everyone involved in vote-buying or any other form of electoral fraud and malpractices,” he said.

“Nigerians are getting more enlightened politically as days turn weeks and weeks into months and so on. We have also observed that the electorate are getting emboldened to withstand any form of intimidation from any person.

“We encourage citizens to monitor the whole process, be vigilant and report any form of acts capable of truncating the people’s choice. We expect people’s vote to count at the end of collation.”