Uyai-Abasi Etido
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has stated that the 2023 elections will be free, fair, and void of vote buying at all polling units during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly polls.
The Commission also noted that plans has been concluded to conduct credible elections in Rivers State, urging all candidates and politicians to play by the rules of the game.
The Head, Voters Education, INEC Rivers State, Mark Osulo, who spoke yesterday at a National Roundtable on the “‘Roadmap to a Credible and Violence Free 2023 General Elections,” organized in Port Harcourt by Equity International Initiative (EII), assured Nigerians that Saturday’s election would be free and fair, adding that the new monetary policy of the Federal Government has curbed the issue of vote buying.
In his words: “I assure you that the election is going to be free and fair. There will be no vote buying. It is going in tandem with our plans with stakeholders.”
“There will be no money to buy votes. We are going to experience an election without vote buying.
However, the Country Director of EII, Dr Chris Iyala, stated that the 2023 election is crucial to the survival of the nation, noting that Nigerians are holding INEC to its promise of a free, fair and credible election.
According to him, the roundtable is to identify what makes up a free and credible election and ensure that the nation experiences the same in elections to come.
“This election is crucial. We are focusing on the credibility of the election. In 2019, we set election situation monitoring and we monitored election at 8000 units.”
“We are holding INEC by their word on the statement that they will conduct a free and fair election. For the first time, we have witnessed how elections should be conducted especially with the Osun election.”