The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has apprehended an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who was found with a large sum of money during the governorship election in Imo State on Saturday.
The ICPC said it arrested the INEC official at Polling Unit 005, Township Primary School, Ikenegbu 1, in the Owerri Municipal Local Government Area, where it was monitoring the election process.
According to the ICPC, the money was allegedly given to the INEC official by an unidentified party to influence voters to cast their ballots for their candidate, a common practice of electoral fraud in Nigeria.
The ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) deployed their operatives to Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa to oversee the off-cycle elections and prevent malpractices such as vote buying.
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In a related development, party agents were reported to have bribed voters with cash to sway their votes in favour of their candidates in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi, where the governorship election also took place same day.
The agents positioned themselves near the polling units, where they handed out money to voters ranging from N3,000 to N5,000, depending on their status or bargaining power.