Vote Trading and Other Electoral Corruption in the 2019 General Elections: Setting Agenda for Prosecution and Reforms: HEDA and collaborating CSOs and government agencies fulfil promise to collaborate.
On April 10, 2019, stakeholders gathered at the 9th ACSR to exchange experience, collate reports of electoral corruption in line with the commitment made at the 8th edition of ACSR.
The forum which held at the Rockview Hotel, Abuja had in attendance Peter Ogunsanwo (Assistant Inspector General of Police) who represented the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Festus Okoye (Federal Commissioner, INEC), Comrade Ayuba Waba (President, Nigeria Labour Congress), Mr. Femi Falana SAN (Human Rights Lawyer and Activist), representatives of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), CSOs, NGOs and the Media.
The 9th ACSR came on the heels of the earlier forum (the 8th ACSR) where collaborating organizations including police and government agencies agreed to work together by way of gathering reports and assembling the reports for the purpose of prosecuting electoral corruption/fraud.
Debates, deliberations and report presentations at the forum focused on various incidences of electoral malpractices witnessed during the General Elections especially reported cases of;
- Vote buying/trading
- Exchange of food items for votes
- Exorbitant sales of nomination forms
- Community collective inducement
- Organized reward system during the elections
- Buying and warehousing of voters’ cards before elections
- Surrendering voters’ card to cartel as precondition for access to social amenities
- Buying of party agents
- Teleguiding voters
After all deliberations the forum agreed to put together all the reports and with the support of the SAN, Femi Falana SAN come up with a harmonized report with the aim of drawing out list of possible prosecution from the report.
The forum agreed that representatives drawn from collaborating organizations including the police and government anticorruption agencies should meet no later than four weeks to put final touches on the prosecution plan.
DOWNLOAD THE 9TH ANTI-CORRUPTION SITUATION ROOM (ACSR) COMMUNIQUE HERE
