The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will strengthen intelligence gathering and collaboration with security and justice agencies to identify and tackle vote buying ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers in Imo State.
Amupitan said vote buying had become increasingly organised, with some transactions now being planned and carried out away from polling units before election day.
“We need to activate intelligence to fish out some of those things and deal with them,” the INEC chairman said.
He explained that intelligence would be important because conventional election-day monitoring may not detect transactions that are arranged in advance or conducted outside polling locations.
The commission is also working towards a broader task force involving relevant government and security institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General’s office and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
Amupitan said INEC itself does not have the powers of arrest or investigation, making cooperation with law-enforcement agencies necessary for suspected electoral offences to be properly investigated and prosecuted.
The INEC chairman had earlier called on the police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to remain vigilant against vote buying and vote trading.
INEC has repeatedly identified vote buying as one of the practices capable of undermining the integrity of elections.
In remarks earlier in 2026, Amupitan described vote buying as a violation of electoral law and urged political parties and voters to reject the practice. The commission has also stressed the importance of security coordination ahead of the 2027 polls.
The latest warning comes as political parties and electoral stakeholders intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan said the commission would continue to work with security agencies to improve election security and address electoral malpractice.
The INEC chairman's statement places greater emphasis on detecting vote-buying networks before and beyond the polling unit, rather than relying solely on monitoring activities on election day.
Comments
Post a Comment