As the governorship election got on peacefully Saturday, in Kogi State, vote buying and selling could be seen being practised, despite the warnings by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
At every joint in Lokoja, the state capital, thugs working for the parties, form circles with one person in the middle.
Party agents who share money are seen surrounded by prospective voters who take turns to receive the moeny. As one person receives money and leaves, another fills the gap to ensure nobody sees what’s going on inside the circle. Prospective voters -men, women, and youth -are given as much as N3000, and some N2000.
One woman was heard telling another and even showed her the money (N3000) given to her by a party agent near the polling unit at Cantonment in Lokoja.
At Crowther Memorial Secondary School polling unit in Lokoja, voting is going on smoothly, but at the Cantonment polling unit there was an initial disagreement between party agents on where to keep the voting materials. This was later resolved.
Voters came out in large numbers. There have been no reports of violence in Lokoja for now, but feelers from people around here have it that it is the evening that will determine the success of the election.
The contention is mainly between the ruling All Progressives Congress to which belongs Yahaya Bello, the state governor, and People’s Democratic Party.
