#EdoDecides2024: Labour Party’s deputy governorship candidate accuses APC of vote buying

“It is sad that the APC is engaging in vote buying in my unit…,” the Labour Party governorship candidate in Edo State said.

The Labour Party deputy governorship candidate in the ongoing Edo State election, Prince Kadiri, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of vote buying.

Mr Kadiri, who is running with the party’s governorship candidate, Olumide Akpata, for Saturday’s election, alleged that the APC resorted to vote buying as part of its desperate measures to sway the election in its candidate’s favour.

Mr Kadiri said he witnessed the vote-buying incidents firsthand in Auchi and other parts of the Edo North district of the state.

“It is sad that the APC is engaging in vote buying in my unit, and the reports available to me across Auchi and the Edo North district show that the APC is buying votes for N10,000,” Leadership newspaper quoted Mr Kadiri as saying on Saturday.

However, he said, despite the sharp practices, some voters resisted the urge to accept bribes and voted for their preferred candidates.

He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its performance in conducting the election, although he noted that it was too early to give the electoral party a pass mark.

He urged INEC to monitor its staff members to ensure they did not indulge in malpractices.

However, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, denied Mr Kadiri’s vote buying allegation in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

“They are just looking for ways to distract people’s attention.

“There are security operatives on the ground. If they notice anything they should report it. As for us, we are focused and monitoring how things are going,” Mr Morka said.

The police have announced the arrest of suspected voter buyers linked to the PDP, the ruling party in the state.

However credible electoral observers monitoring the election in the state have reported seeing the agents of both the PDP and the APC, another leading party in the election, allegedly engaging in vote buying.