Ahead 2019, criminalise vote-buying to ensure credible, fair polls–Okei-Odumakin
Leading female right activist and founder, Women Arise for Change Initiative (WACI), Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin has called on the National Assembly to immediately begin a review of the Electoral Act to criminalise the act of vote-buying before the next general elections.
She said this has become necessary based on the revelations from the just concluded Ekiti gubernatorial election.
She said the act which is yet to be found as an offence in any extant law could rob Nigerians of genuine and quality representation in government or even pose great danger to the nation’s electoral process and democracy.
Business Hilights recalls that WACI was one of the 54 Election Observation groups accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission to observe the just-concluded 2018 Ekiti governorship election.
Odumakin, who addressed a section of the media weekend in Lagos, said the act of vote-buying would further subject the nation to ridicule, locally and internationally.
