The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) says it has deployed 200 armed operatives to combat vote buying in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Kano Zonal Commander of EFCC, Farouk Dogondaji, disclosed this during an interview in Kano on Friday.

He said the deployment was part of the commission’s commitment towards ensuring credible and transparent elections in the zone.

“We have deployed 50 personnel to monitor the conduct of the election in Kano state, 50 in Jigawa and 50 in Katsina state to prevent vote buying throughout the electoral process,” he said. 

“The remaining officers were deployed to Malam Aminu Kano International airport in Kano and the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Airport Katsina.

“We have sufficient personnel on standby at our zonal office and are battle ready for any threat during and after the election,” Mr Dogondaji added.

The Zonal Commander said the EFCC had also adopted measures that would make it difficult for any person or group of people to engage in vote buying during and after the elections.

“We are carefully monitoring the entire exercise along with state security agencies towards providing peaceful atmosphere for eligible residents to elect leaders of their choice in our areas of supervision,” he said.

Mr Dogondaji called on the personnel to be thorough and professional in carrying out the national assignment.

“Our presence is to credibly add value to the electoral process by preventing vote buying and pave way for the electorates to elect leaders of their choice through democratic process,” he said.

The EFCC commander said the aim of the operation was to give Nigerians the opportunity to, without any form of inducement, elect credible leaders committed to the growth and development of the country.

(NAN)