Osun Election: Undercover Operatives Deployed To Monitor Vote-Buyers – Police

Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, gives an update on the Osun State governorship election on July 16, 2022, in Osogbo.

As part of measures to guarantee a free and fair election in Osun, police authorities have deployed undercover operatives to monitor vote buyers in the state.

Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, stated this in Osogbo during an interview on Channels Television.

“Vote buying is a silent transaction, nobody will carry a megaphone and say I want to buy votes. It takes intelligence,” he said.

“We have our Force Intelligence Bureau operatives, our tactical operatives are here too. They are not in uniforms, they are everywhere and we are working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Hopefully if we come across anyone that wants to venture into that, the person will be apprehended because vote buying is criminal, according to the provisions of the Electoral Act (2022) as amended. So we can’t throw away our faces and say so so person has not committed any offence.”

Channels Television’s Political Editor, Seun Okinbaloye, who was on the ground to monitor the exercise in Osogbo, the Osun State capital said there were reports of vote buying in some polling centres.

He said police officials and those of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have arrested some vote buyers and will prosecute them.

Similarly, EFCC operatives are also undergoing an undercover operation to swoop in on political party agents who dispense money to buy and sell votes.

Despite the reported arrest, the concrete evidence and outcome of the investigation by the security operatives are yet to be seen.

On whether the election has recorded any violence, Okinbaloye said the exercise has been relatively peaceful with the heavy presence of security operatives.

He said there hasn’t been any major violent report across the 30 Local Government Areas of the state.

Also, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of policing for the Osun governorship election, Johnson Kokumo, also allayed fears about the activities of cultists in the state and provided information about the police deployment in the state.

Kokumo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, said the police authorities, in collaboration with other security agencies, have taken appropriate measures to ensure a peaceful election.

“We’ve been able to make adequate arrangements to take care of the possible consequences of the activities of the cultists. That is, effecting their arrest before the election and of course mopping up light weapons in circulation,” the DIG said in response to reports of cult clashes in parts of the state.

“This is intended to create a conducive atmosphere where the gubernatorial election will take place without crisis.”

Asked how many cultists have been arrested, he said, “Not less than 15 of them”, adding that they will be prosecuted.

Those arrested were picked up across the state, a move that the DIG believes has yielded positive results.