Jane Salihu
With barely weeks to the August 15 Osun State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has enlisted journalists in its renewed crackdown on vote buying, urging the media to move beyond reporting incidents to gathering evidence capable of securing convictions.
The charge was made by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mohammed Kudu Haruna, in a keynote address delivered at a one-day Media Stakeholders’ Forum in Osogbo. The address was presented on his behalf by the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola.
Haruna described vote buying as the biggest integrity challenge witnessed during the June 20 Ekiti State governorship election, revealing that political actors allegedly adopted sophisticated methods, including the use of numbered vouchers redeemable outside polling units, to evade security surveillance.
Rather than merely reporting isolated incidents, he urged journalists to conduct investigative reports that capture the identities of those involved, the locations, amounts exchanged and the operational network behind vote-buying schemes.
According to him, such evidence would strengthen coordinated enforcement efforts involving INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services.
The National Commissioner reminded political actors and voters that Section 22 of the Electoral Act 2026 prescribes a minimum fine of ₦5 million, imprisonment of up to two years, or both, for anyone convicted of vote trading, alongside a 10-year ban from contesting public office.
He also disclosed that INEC had concluded key preparations for the Osun governorship election, including the validation of candidates presented by 14 political parties and the registration of 381,817 new voters during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
Haruna said the commission would deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) across all 30 local government areas of the state, expressing confidence in the technology following its performance during the Ekiti election, where BVAS achieved a 96 per cent functionality rate and IReV recorded a 98 per cent result upload rate.
Expressing concern over declining voter turnout across the country, he appealed to media organisations to intensify voter education campaigns and encourage eligible Nigerians to participate in the electoral process while promoting the use of IReV for independent verification of election results.
Earlier, the Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner, Babalola, described the media as a critical partner in safeguarding democracy through accurate reporting and sustained voter enlightenment, while calling for continued collaboration ahead of the governorship election.
Also speaking, INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, represented by Deputy Director of Information and Publicity, Wilfred Ifogah, said the forum was organised to strengthen engagement between the commission and the media while updating journalists on preparations for the poll.
In a goodwill message, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Adeyemi Aboderin, pledged the support of journalists in combating vote buying and mobilising voters for a peaceful and credible election.
