The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that cameras and other recording devices will not be allowed into polling booths during Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.
Chairman of the commission, Mahmood Yakubu, made this known in Osogbo on Monday at an interactive session with stakeholders. He said the move will curb the acts of vote-buying and vote-selling which had become a new strategy adopted by politicians to rig elections.
According to him, voters will not be barred from using their devices at the polling units but will not be allowed to hold their cameras and telephones from the moment they are issued with ballot papers until they cast their marked ballots inside the ballot boxes.
Yakubu who stated that the menace of vote buying is now a new concept in Nigeria’s electoral system, however assured that the commission will rise to these challenges. He noted that Osun State has set a record of having 48 political parties participating in the election, the highest so far in Nigeria.
The Inspector-General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, in his remarks at the event, said the police would be impartial and ensure the security of voters and other stakeholders before, during, and after the contest.
He disclosed that eighteen thousand, four hundred and twenty-six police officers will be deployed to the state, adding that eight commissioners will be in charge of all area commands in the state.
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