THE Nigeria Police Force said it has arrested three suspects for vote buying during the Osun governorship election.
A statement by the force spokesman, acting DCP Jimoh Moshood on Saturday in Abuja, said that the suspects were allegedly arrested in the act of vote buying.
Moshood said the arrest followed the deployment of operatives of IGP Monitoring Unit and the Intelligence Response Team of the Force.
The spokesman said that the sum of N720, 000 was recovered from the suspects.
He said investigation into the cases was ongoing and the suspects would be arraigned on completion of investigation.
Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the Osun State election, says voting-buying has negatively affected the exercise.
Akinbade spoke to newsmen in Ogbagba after the accreditation and voting exercise.
“Vote-buying has cast shadows on the governorship election. Vote-buying had taken the shine off the election,’’ he said.
However, he commended voters for ensuring a peaceful electoral process. The former Secretary to the State Government, who voted at his Oba’s Compound, Ward 3, Polling Unit 1 at 10.35am, also said that the nation’s democracy was improving on all fronts.
“By and large, we are inching gradually to a convenient point in our polity.
“Everybody involved in this election should be commended; the INEC officials, security agents, electorate, politicians and others.
“At least, reported cases of electoral violence are limited, apart from the incidence of vote buying that dotted everywhere while the exercise lasted.
“We just hope something will be done to it in organised electoral engagements in the future,
”Akinbade said. The ADC standard bearer appealed to the people of the state to remain peaceful and not promote violence after the release of the result.”
