Independent
National Electoral Commission has urged its officials to be above board
during the October 20 Ondo State governorship election.
Resident
Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, warned that any
INEC official arrested for electoral offences would be dealt with.
Orebiyi, in a statement on Monday, said the INEC employee allegedly caught with voter cards, would be prosecuted.
According
to him, the man was serving as a security personnel at the Ondo West
Local Government INEC office until his involvement in the criminal act.
He
said the suspect was on Friday arrested by the police for “making
available about 1,000 unclaimed voter cards to some politicians
apparently to facilitate unwholesome activities during the election.”
Orebiyi, who refused to disclose the identity of the suspect, however said he was arrested by the police following a tip-off.
The
state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Danladi Mshelbwala, who confirmed the
arrest said the man and his collaborators would be prosecuted for being
in possession of sensitive materials.
The
development has fuelled political tension in the state as the
opposition political parties have accused the ruling Labour Party of
being the brain behind a plan to use the unclaimed cards on Election
Day.
There were also rumours that
about 100,000 ballot papers on thumbprints in favour of a political
party were found with the suspects.
However, Orebiyi denied that ballot papers were part of the documents seized from the suspects.
The
REC said, “There is no way anybody could get hold of the ballot papers
which are very sensitive materials before the election.”
Source: Punch Nigeria
In the article
- Topics:
- Attahiru Jega, INEC, Ondo
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