The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun, Mutiu Agboke, has called for collaboration between Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023.

Mr Agboke made the call during his advocacy visits to electoral stakeholders in the state on Wednesday.

Speaking at the office of Paul Okpe, the FRSC sector commander in Osun, Mr Agboke said many politicians still believed that elections in Nigeria were business as usual, adding that they had yet to wake up to the new reality.

“Election management in Nigeria is a multiplier activity, and every stakeholder must deliver based on the statutory responsibilities regarding elections.

“Many politicians are desperate and believe in bribing to win elections because they still live in the past.

“INEC has introduced technology to the electoral system, and it cannot be bypassed, even though we are aware that vote buying is ongoing.

“We are going to be careful, and whoever is responsible for such, whether INEC staffers or politicians, will be shamed and prosecuted,” he said.

Mr Agboke said INEC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with transport unions to address transportation logistics during the elections.

He expressed the commission’s preparation and determination to organise the polls without any hitch, even as he solicited FRSC’s support to make the exercise successful.

In his response, the FRSC sector commander said the corps’ national headquarters was worried about the conduct of many politicians during the election period, coupled with the issue of electoral violence.

Mr Okpe, however, expressed optimism that Nigeria would get it right and that next year’s polls would be credible and violence-free.

He said his command had received a directive from FRSC headquarters to work with INEC in carrying out its statutory duties.

Mr Agboke later visited the Nigerian Customs Service, Osun Command, where the assistant comptroller of customs, Sa’ad Abubakar, pledged the service’s support to the commission. 

(NAN)