The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has called on civil society organisations (CSOs) to extend their monitoring efforts to political party primaries to tackle the issue of vote-buying and delegate manipulation.
Speaking at INEC’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting, Yakubu expressed concern over financial inducements given to delegates during primaries. He urged CSOs to monitor party nominations with the same level of scrutiny they apply to general elections.
He acknowledged the role of CSOs in election monitoring and advocacy, noting that their reports have contributed to addressing electoral irregularities. He also highlighted cases where delegates openly admitted to receiving money from aspirants in exchange for votes.
Yakubu stated, “I would like to urge civil society organisations to be as interested in party primaries as you are actively engaged in the monitoring of secondary elections conducted by INEC,” Yakubu said.
“Only the candidates nominated by the political parties are placed on the ballot paper for citizens to vote for on election day.
“From your monitoring reports as accredited election observers, you have consistently expressed concern over vote-buying at polling units during elections.
“Some of you have made actionable recommendations on how to curtail the menace, which have been favourably considered by the commission.
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“It is time to cast your net wide by focusing on the incidence of delegate-buying by aspirants during primaries.
“Some delegates openly boasted of how much money they made from aspirants during party primaries; you should intensify your advocacy in support of the practical steps taken by the relevant security and law enforcement agencies to tackle this diabolical practice,” he added.
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