The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a suspected vote seller, Adekunle Ademola, who was apprehended by the Commission’s operatives during the elections held in Kwara on March 18.
According to a statement released by the EFCC on Wednesday, Ademola was arraigned before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.
He faces a one-count charge related to alleged conspiracy, bribery, and election malpractice, an offence that contravenes Section 121 (2) of the Electoral Act, 2022, and is punishable under Section 121 (4) of the same Act.
The charge accuses Ademola of agreeing to receive money into his account for voting in the election, an act committed at Polling Unit 004, Ilorin Grammar School, Geri Alimi, Ilorin, Kwara, during the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Election.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
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Following his plea, the prosecuting counsel, Andrew Akoja, requested a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at a correctional Centre. Justice Abdulgafar subsequently remanded the defendant at Mandala Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to December 6, 2023, for trial.
Ademola, Parallel Facts gathered, was arrested on March 18, 2023, at Polling Unit 04, Ilorin Grammar School, Ilorin, by officers of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC, who were on election monitoring duty in the state.
The EFCC stated that the defendant provided his name and account number, as well as information of about seven others, for the purpose of receiving money after he had voted.