The governorship candidate of the African Action Congress(ACC) in the ongoing Anambra State election, Chioma Ifemeludike, has criticised the conduct of the poll, alleging that there was widespread vote buying.
In a video posted on her Instagram page on Saturday, Ifemeludike alleged that some voters were selling their votes for as little as ₦3,000 to ₦5,000, while the exercise was being ‘supervised’ by unidentified agents.
She said, ‘What is happening now? There’s no election. There are practical transactions going on. They write your name, and then you proceed to another section where people meet. When you look around, these are people going through physical hardship—you can almost touch it’.
The AAC candidate further lamented the sight of elderly women and men allegedly selling their votes, saying, “These women, these elders, are selling their votes as little as ₦3,000, ₦5,000. And it’s well supervised by people who are public agents. They have sections, people all over the place. It’s a cooperative transaction happening here. I saw it. It’s appalling’.
Ifemeludike added, ‘At this point, I don’t even think it’s safe for anyone who is in opposition here. It’s highly dominated by transactional elements. This is wicked. This is unacceptable’.
She called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Nigeria Police Force to take immediate action against those involved in vote trading.
In another post, Ifemeludike wrote, ‘Voters selling their votes for as little as ₦5,000—and whoever is buying—should be sentenced to life imprisonment. This act criminalises both the electorate and politicians, obstructs accountability in governance, and demonises leaders in power’.
She continued, ‘This practice must be proscribed and eradicated for true and patriotic leaders to pave way for the needed change we seek in our society. I call on @inecnigeria and the Nigerian Police Force to arrest any individual or group of people enforcing this abominable act’.
As of press time, a live check by our correspondent at 7:16 p.m. showed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had uploaded about 96.77 per cent of results from Saturday’s Anambra State governorship election to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV)
