Despite public enlightenment carried out by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against vote-buying ahead of 2019 general elections, many Nigerians still failed to heed the clarion call – ‘say no to vote buying’.
And so, when they defied EFCC operatives on duty who were monitoring and checking against vote buying during the general elections, the Gombe State councilor was unaware of what awaits him until he was picked up on March 23, 2019.
That was the fate of Councilor of Bolari East, Gombe, in Gombe State, Ishiyaku Garba and Joel Jagaba (still at large), who allegedly took off after sighting the operatives on March 23, 2019.
Garba was eventually arrested just as he has now emerged as the first person to be convicted of vote buying in Nigeria.
Garba’s trip to jail was sequel to intelligence reports volunteered by a whistleblower to EFCC operatives concerning an alleged plot by Garba to influence voters with money on the Election Day.
It was gathered that while the EFCC operatives laid an ambush against the convict and on that fateful day, Garba strolled into the EFCC net and was arrested at Bolari Polling Unit 0077, in Gombe State, where he was sighted sharing money to voters.
After necessary investigation and gathering of relevant evidence, the Gombe Zonal Office of EFCC arraigned the councilor before Justice Sa’ad Moh’d of a State High Court on a three-count charge of election bribery.
One of the counts against the Gombe councilor reads in part: “That you, Ishiyaku Garba and Joel Jagaba (still at large) on or about 23rd of March, 2019 at Bolari, Gombe State on the date slated for Presidential and National Assembly Election at Bolari Polling Unit 0077, Gombe State within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did agree among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: caused money to be expended for Election Bribery and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 124 (5) of Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and punishable under Section 124 (1) (c) of the same Act.”
Before he was sentenced, the prosecuting lawyer, S.E. Okemini, called a witness, one Hillary Obetta, for review of facts and to also tender evidence against him, which was admitted as Exhibits 1, 2, 3 and 4. But the Defence lawyer, S.A. Mustapha, pleaded for leniency.
Justice Mohammed thereafter convicted Garba on the three counts and sentenced him to one-month imprisonment with an option of N100,000 as fine for count one; one month in prison on count two, with an option of N50,000 as fine; one month in prison on count three, with an option of N20,000 as fine. The prison terms are to run consecutively.
The court further ordered that the sum of N295, 000, recovered from him should be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Before the election, the commission created strategic and effective monitoring of political parties’ campaign funds in order to effectively curb electoral fraud, including vote buying and the effort paid off.
At the heat of the election, EFCC operatives were deployed to all the six-geopolitical zones across the country and from Damaturu in Yobe State to Gombe in the North-East, to Uturu in Abia State, South East, to Edo and Port Harcourt in the South-South, to Ibadan and Iyana Ipaja, Lagos State in the South-West, to Kano in the North West, Ilorin and Makurdi in the North Central while the operatives combed every nook and cranny of the country, to ensure that the electoral process was not dented with monetary influence.
At the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Magbon, Abeokuta, Ogun State, and the Oshimilli South office of INEC in Delta State, among other collations centers, officers of the EFCC were visible seen, as they joined other security agencies and election monitoring observers, to ensure that at the point of counting the votes, that INEC officials were not bribed by agents of politicians who want to win election by hook and crook of financial inducement.
The operatives of the EFCC, working on intelligence reports, stormed various polling units and created sanity in the electoral process and prevented vote buyers and sellers from making any headway in their attempt to mop up votes by inducing voters. Many of them, for fear of being arrested, scampered to their various hideouts.
In Gombe, two vote buyers, who hitherto thought it was business as usual, were arrested by operatives of the EFCC, with huge sums of money as officers of the anti-graft agency, effectively aborted their plans and took them into custody, as part of investigating a larger syndicate of vote-buyers.
Political analysts have described vote- buying as a corrupt election practice adding that a vote buying is a bribe that has a monetary value.
According to them, vote- buying is a threat to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections and that vote-buying and vote-selling are twin enemies of a democratic process.
Vote buying is prohibited in Nigeria. Article 130 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, and states that; “A person who — (a) corruptly by himself or by any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, directly or indirectly gives or provides or pays money to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or refrain from voting at such election, or on account of such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting at such election; or (b) being a voter, corruptly accepts or takes money or any other inducement during any of the period stated in paragraph (a) of this section, commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both”.
“Similarly, the 2018 Revised Code of Conduct for Political Parties in section VIII (e) provides that,”… all political parties and their agents shall not engage in the following practice: buying of votes or offer any bribe, gift, reward, gratification or any other monetary or material considerations or allurement to voters and electoral officials”.
Notwithstanding its prohibition, vote buying continues to be a widespread practice in Nigeria’s recent elections”.
