The Independent National Electoral Commission has advised the members of civil society organisations to focus their advocacy on cases of “delegates-buying” during the primaries of political parties in the country. 

Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, gave the advice at the first quarterly consultative meeting with CSOs for the year 2025 held in Abuja. 

“It is time to cast your net wide by focusing on the incidence of delegates-buying by aspirants during primaries. Some delegates openly boasted of how much money they made from aspirants during party primaries,” Mr Mohammed said Tuesday. 

He added, “You should intensify your advocacy in support of the practical steps taken by the relevant security and law enforcement agencies to tackle this diabolical practice.”

Mr Yakubu, who stressed the need to curb vote-buying during elections, also noted that delegates of political parties had openly spoken about financial inducements, mostly during the nomination process. 

He explained that the issue required greater action in curbing the menace among politicians gradually affecting the nation’s electoral value system. 

He stated, “I would like to urge civil society organisations to be as interested in party primaries as you are actively engaged in the monitoring of secondary elections conducted by INEC.  After all, only the candidates nominated by the political parties are placed on the ballot paper for citizens to vote for on election day.”

Recall that a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed how some delegates were allegedly induced with money to vote at the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress in June 2022. 

Mr Amaechi had in a video footage alleged that some delegates collected money during the primary, ostensibly to solve their immediate problems, noting that those who collected money to vote must have been regretting their actions. 

“God should save the ordinary Nigerian because they are the problem. Those who voted at the APC primary, who are they? The ordinary Nigerians. The small money they got solved their immediate problems,” he spoke at an event in Port Harcourt. 

The former governor was a runner – up at the APC presidential primaries, where he polled 316 votes to come a distant second to incumbent President Bola Tinubu, who got 1271 votes. 

Analysts have also raised concerns about how primaries of political parties in the country were dogged by reports of vote buying by desperate politicians to attract delegates.