The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) says it will sanction any of its officers found culpable in the electoral process and conduct of the Jan. 18 local government election.
The ODIEC Chairman, Dr Joseph Aremo, stated this during a two-day capacity building for selected key electoral officers of the commission in Akure on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop is “Grassroots Governance and Electoral Integrity.”
“We have told them that we are going to sanction any officer of the commission caught involved in any electoral malpractice.
“The state is bigger than any individual, so, whoever that is caught culpable will be dealt with.
“That is why we are charging them. When you are not informed, you won’t know. It is a great offence and it’s not just the people that are buying votes.
“Whoever has concrete information about any of our officers, please, feel free to inform us. We will sanction such a person,” he said.
According to him, if the commission compromises its integrity, the product will be faulty, as peoples’ votes must count.
Aremo said the workshop was needed to keep participants abreast of their roles.
“We believe that our people need to get democratic governance: having people elected at the local government level and there is the need to provide a viable template that will provide that.
“The election should be free, fair, credible and transparent.
“So, what we are doing now is to enlighten, train and retrain electoral officers and top management of the commission.
“We know that if we must do the right thing, it starts with us.
“We are told things we should do and should not do as there is the need to live above board and remain impartial,” he stated.
Aremo said vote buying would be discouraged in the forthcoming election, noting that grassroots democracy must be protected and produce competent representatives to deliver dividends of democracy.
“The issue of vote buying has eroded the legitimacy of any product that comes from such process because ultimately, sovereignty resides with people and people have the choice to elect who they want without any inducement.
“We have told our officers that if they find anybody engaging in vote buying, such a person should be arrested and we are set to prosecute.
“What we need now is a scapegoat – we must take the bull by the horns. By the time we prosecute two or three people found culpable in this offence, I know it will serve as a deterrent to prospective vote buyers.
“Now that the Supreme Court has ruled on local government autonomy, we have more credible people who want to participate in the local government politics.
“The credibility of the poll depends on the integrity of electoral officers. We must do the right thing considering the postponement it has suffered,” he said.
The chairman of ODIEC urged eligible voters to develop confidence in the commission, assuring them of conducting an election acceptable to all.
He enjoined the political parties and other stakeholders to comply with the rules, urging them to imbibe internal democracy.
A resource person, Dr Omololu Adegbenro, said the government and the commission should squarely address the vote-buying syndrome by arresting and prosecuting anyone found culpable in the process.
Adegbenro, who is the Registrar of the Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, said the rate of corruption in the electoral process had depleted confidence in the electoral process.
The registrar, therefore, asked the electoral body to continue to collaborate with academics to ensure transparency in the electoral process.
The Permanent Secretary of ODIEC, Mr Igbekele Jatuase, said the workshop would enable the participants to be kept in tune with their roles as impartial referees.
Two of the participants, Mr Olu Ikugbaigbe and Mr Isaac Obiniran, said the workshop had reminded them of the right things to do to ensure a credible election.
They, however, asked for continuous training to ensure peaceful and credible elections. (NAN).
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