Vote-Buying: Party Agents in Ogun Intercepted With “Hundreds” Of Credit Cards

Four party agents were allegedly caught in Ogun with numerous credit cards with the intention of buying votes during the gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections, according to the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The National Defense and Legal Education Association (NDLEA) announced in a tweet on Saturday that its Chairman, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (rtd), had directed that the suspects be turned over to the police.

“In Ibara housing estate in Ogun state, operations of @ndlea nigeria on election duty stop and search, just intercepted four party agents with hundreds of dollars in credit cards to buy votes. Each card has a value of 10,000 and is code-activated for cash.

After proper documentation, “@MB Marwa has requested they be given over to the police.”

With the agreement of the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had the three biggest denomination banknotes—the N200, N500, and N1,000—redesigned, making it illegal to use the older ones to thwart vote-buying.

President Muhammadu Buhari advised voters on Saturday to save the cash provided by candidates but cast their ballots in accordance with their moral convictions in light of the prevalence of “money-for-votes” schemes in Nigerian politics.

“I am aware that the money is not there like before for people to manipulate voters as they used to do. He added in Daura, “And if they bring out money now, the people should pocket it, and still vote their conscience.