According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there won’t be any bags of cash at the voting booths in the 2023 elections, and the same will be true of this weekend’s presidential and national assembly elections.
Moreover, INEC declared that it had completed planning to hold credible elections in Rivers State and urged all candidates and politicians to adhere to the ground rules.
At a nationwide roundtable on the roadmap to credible and violent-free general elections in 2023, hosted in Port Harcourt by Equity International Initiative, INEC Rivers State’s head of voter education, Mark Osulo, addressed yesterday (EII).
Osulo declared that the election on Saturday would be free and fair, saying that the Federal Government’s new monetary strategy had prevented vote buying.
I can tell you that the election will be free and fair, he stated. No votes will be purchased. It is in line with the plans we have with the stakeholders.
No money will be available to purchase votes. An election sans vote-buying will take place. Money won’t be available to buy votes.
The country’s survival depends on the 2023 election, according to Dr. Chris Iyala, Country Director of EII, who also noted that the populace is holding the INEC to its promise of a free, fair, and credible election.
According to him, the purpose of the roundtable is to define what constitutes a free and credible election and to ensure that the country has those qualities in future elections.
This election is essential, Iyala stated. The validity of the election is what we are concentrating on. 2019 saw the implementation of election situation monitoring, with 8000 units participating.
“We are taking INEC at its word that they would stage an election that is free and fair. With the Osun election, we have seen for the first time what should happen during elections.