On Saturday, March 18, 2023, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission made arrests in a total of 65 people across the 28 states that held elections for governorship and state houses of assembly. The arrests were made on suspicion of voter bribery and took place across the country.
operatives from the Ilorin Zonal Command were responsible for the arrests of 20 of the suspects, while operatives from the Kaduna Zonal Command who were on election monitoring duty were responsible for the arrests of 13 of the suspects.
There were a total of 12 people arrested for various offenses that bordered on inducing voters with money to vote for their preferred candidates by the teams monitoring the polls in the Port Harcourt Zone, while the Uyo Zonal Command made four arrests in Calabar. The four remaining suspects were taken into custody in the states of Gombe, Sokoto, Kebbi, and Niger.
These were disclosed on Saturday by Wilson Uwujaren, who serves as the Head of Media and Publicity for the EFCC. Our correspondent was able to obtain a copy of the statement.
He mentioned that those who were taken into custody in Kaduna included 10 males and three females, and he added that operatives who were working on intelligence were the ones who took them in.
According to Uwujaren, “A suspect who is suspected of being involved in vote buying was apprehended at School Road, Unguwan Rimi Kaduna.” However, the suspect who initially put up a fight against being arrested is currently being held in custody pending the outcome of the investigation.
Also in Kaduna, a man named Buhari Mohammed was taken into custody by a team led by Esmond Garba in the PU 002 Dogara Yaro Dagari neighborhood. He was caught with voter coupons, and he admitted that he planned to use them to track down and pay people who voted for his party. He was arrested.
In addition to this, the group that was monitoring the voting exercise around LEA Kabala Doki, Kaduna and was led by CSE Wakilu Omokide was also responsible for the arrest of two individuals who are suspected of buying votes. Upon their arrest, a total of N67,500, a list of names of voters along with their PVC numbers and other details about their bank accounts, among other things, were recovered from them.
According to the spokesperson for the anti-corruption agency, the investigation so far has revealed that the primary mode of operation of the suspects is to give eligible voters cash, transfer money, coupons, and send recharge cards in order to induce them to vote for their candidates. This information was revealed by the investigation so far.
“The majority of them had transferred money into the accounts of some voters on the lists that were recovered from them, as was discovered when a search was conducted on their persons and phones, which revealed this information. Voter registration cards, cash, and a list containing the names and account information of voters were some of the items that were recovered from the suspects. “Others are different types of recharge cards,” he explained.
Along the same lines, officers from the Kaduna Command detained two people in Niger State on suspicion of buying votes. The first suspect, identified as Umar Ibrahim, was detained at the polling unit on Peter Sarki Road after intelligence led to his arrest.
“After searching his vehicle, we discovered a letter of appointment from BOS (Bago Support Organization) as Director Liaison as well as an INEC ID tag (domestic election observer) bearing his name and photograph. The tag bore his name and a photograph. After further questioning, he admitted that a certain Mr. Usman Mohammed, who is affiliated with his political party, was the one who provided him with the INEC ID tag.
“The second suspect, Isa Salihu Bababida, was arrested at Unguwar Nassarawa with several lists of names, account numbers, and BVN,” Uwujaren added. “The lists contained names of people, account numbers, and BVN.”
Further, he disclosed that election monitoring teams in Port Harcourt, which is located in the state of Rivers, had apprehended 10 suspects who were suspected of being involved in voter inducement at Moscow Road, Elekahia, Township, Mile 2, Ward 2 polling Unit 2, and 30 Ogbum, Phalga, Port Harcourt. These locations can be found in Rivers state.
According to him, the individuals under suspicion were found in possession of A4 papers that contained the names, telephone numbers, and account numbers of individuals who were thought to be voters. Additionally, two young people who were suspected of being involved in voter inducement were detained at Ward 2 Polling Unit 2 and 30, Ogbum, PHALGA, in the city of Port Harcourt.
The Public Relations Officer for the EFCC also mentioned that the four people who were arrested at different locations in Calabar by the team from the Uyo Zonal Command led by Binta Rano volunteered their statements at the Criminal Investigation Department of the Cross River State Police Command.
He continued by saying, “The team arrested one Esther Edem, the Woman Leader of one of the political parties for Ward 11, Calabar South, Cross River State, and two others, Edet Etim and Asanwana Eyo for alleged vote buying in Calabar.” Edet Etim and Asanwana Eyo were both arrested for the same offense.
“The Woman Leader, who had a list of suspected voters, their account numbers, and thousands of Naira in cash was apprehended inside an uncompleted building beside her ward in Calabar South, while Etim and Eyo were arrested at Ward 12, Unit 11, at Kings Memorial School by Inyang Street, Abasi Obori, Calabar South.” “The Woman Leader, who had a list of suspected voters, their account numbers, and thousands of Naira in cash.”
The two individuals known as Etim and Eyo were found to be in possession of their own voter registration lists as well as the funds necessary to purchase votes.
Uwujaren also mentioned that the suspects Adekunle Ademola, Wasiu Raimi, Laaro Rasheed, Alagbe Taiwo, Boniface Victory, Kayode Toba, Adeoye Adetunji, Lawal Favour, Abidoye Moradeyo, Magaji Iliasu, Abdulkadir Abdulmumini, and Musa Olasunkanmi were among the 20 people arrested by the
Others are Marudeen Sadiq, Abogunrin Oluwasesan, Funmilayo Lawal, Olawuyi Bolarin, Garuba Ismail, Abiola Abogunrin, Amidu Tiamiyu and Usman Abdulazeez.
“The suspects who were apprehended at various polling units across the state were found in possession of evidence, including cash of various sums, a notebook containing a list of voters’ names, a POS machine, mobile phones, and voter cards, among other items,” the statement read.
“During the course of the investigation, some of the suspects admitted to working for the party in some capacity, while others admitted to passing out cash in an attempt to sway voters.” He said.
In the meantime, the EFCC PRO further added that in Gombe, the Gombe Zonal Command, which was led by Faruk Dogondaji, had made 10 arrests over allegations of voters’ inducement and had recovered 43 pieces of wrappers and N1, 923,900 in cash.
He did, however, point out that inquiries into the circumstances surrounding each suspect are still being conducted at this time.
