Guber Poll: ICPC warns youths against vote buying, violence in Kogi

Before, during, and after the next governorship election in Kogi State, young people have been urged to refrain from engaging in vote buying and violence.

At a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Kogi youths presented the Charter of Demand to candidates for governor of the state and were warned by Ulu James Okoro, the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner for the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner, who was represented by Principal Superintendent of Operations Sikpi Nathaniel, stated that the ICPC, in keeping with its purpose of eradicating corruption in the country, will be actively involved in preventing electoral corruption in the next elections.

You may already be aware that the Commission and other security agencies had personnel on the ground during the last election to keep an eye out for vote buying and voter suppression.

“During this time, individuals were apprehended, and their biometric data was transmitted to the National Control Centre for follow-up.

We pledge to keep a close eye on the November 11 governor’s race and will use all of our available resources to do so. Be a good Kogite, show some national pride, and remove yourself from any involvement in electoral fraud so that you can rest easy.

Okoro, on the other hand, urged young people in Kogi to vote for their preferred candidate without resorting to violence or emotion.

According to the ICPC director, “As at 25th August, 2022, Nigeria’s population was estimated at 217,079,601, with the youth population accounting for 70% of the 217 million, which was at 151 million.

Fourty-two percent of the seventy percent are minors. The future of Nigeria’s economy, it seems, rests squarely in the hands of the country’s young people. Leaving today’s kids unskilled and unproductive places a heavy weight on any society, and this is happening in a variety of forms in today’s world.

Only a tiny fraction of Kogi State’s 1.8 million young people are actively contributing to society in any significant way. In light of the fact that the state’s youth population is plagued by inactivity, lack of productivity, and underutilization of human resources, the Youth Development Commission Bill was designed to combat these root causes of unrest and extremism.

According to the above data, as of 2019 there are over 1.8 million young people living in Kogi State, the vast majority of whom are unemployed or underemployed. I believe that the upcoming governorship elections will be decided by you, given the size of your voter base and the tactics you have adopted.

The DCC for Kogi State, Ahmadu Salifu, spoke on behalf of the Kogi State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp, who also denounced the damage of communication masts by youths in an effort to prevent the timely transmission of election results.

The National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has noted the heinous incident that occurred in Igalamela and other parts of Kogi during the recent general election. As a result, I can promise voters that this will not happen. Our troops will be on the ground to guard vital facilities and guarantee a trouble-free campaign season.

For his part, INEC’s Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner Gabriel Longpet, who was represented by his Head of Department for Voter Education Haruna Sule, assured the public that the commission is ready for the next off-cycle election.

The INEC REC announced that the Commission had received all non-sensitive materials and had distributed them across the 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi State, adding that the collecting of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) would end on October 9th, 2023.

Okutepa Aminu, the event’s organiser and the head of the Lugard Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative, Dr. Kole Shettima, MacArthur’s director of Africa operations, and Afolabi Kamald, a representative of Leap Africa, all spoke earlier on the importance of preventing the spread of false information, hatred, and violence in the run-up to and following the Governorship election.