THE Inspector General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, on Monday, said use of money by politicians and other stakeholders will be unacceptable during the 2023 general election.

He said the Nigerian Police will be all out to curtail monetary inducement before and during the election while vowing not to relent with prosecution of violators of vote buying offences, to serve as deterrent to others planning same in the forthcoming election.

The Inspector General said the Police as lead security outfit in any election will work in synergy with other security agencies to sanitize the electoral process.

The police boss who was represented by Bala Ciroma, an Assistant Inspector General, read the riot act on Monday in Abuja during a one- day stakeholders’ summit on addressing the influence of money in the 2023 general election.

He said apart from electoral violence, thuggery and snatching of ballot boxes, one key issue affecting the credibility of elections in Nigeria today is the use of money to try and tilt the outcome of the elections, with consequential negative effects.

The IGP added that some politicians spend huge sums of money to get elected to office. Thus, their priority in the office having been elected is to recoup the money they spent during the election.

“The consequence of this is that those elected provide poor governance and deny the public the benefit of good governance, as they most likely are not the best candidates.

“When elections are influenced by money, credibility of process is questioned. This leads to rancour and the possibility of violence after the elections.

“We have seen in recent times how some politicians move about with physical cash to buy votes especially on elections day. Same approached has also been used in kind, through the purchase of items such as rice, noodles, clothes, sugar, salt etc.

“The use of money to influence the political process has so far manifested in the current litigations within members of some political party. And in some cases, intra-party violence.

“Some politicians often use money to sponsor restive youths who are readily available and willing to be mobilised as political thugs and to wreak mayhem on opponents and voters. We have seen this in the current political campaigns and this violence could spread to post election if the use of money is not checked.

“We cannot rule out attempt to entice the political umpires/ security agents with money to influence the outcome of elections,” he said.

However, the Inspector General said concerted efforts are being made by the Nigeria police as the lead agency in electoral security management to ensure that the use of money is not allowed to influence the 2023 general elections or at least ensure that this menace is brought to the barest minimum.

“We will achieve this in synergy with sister security agencies, anti-graft and intelligence agencies and other stakeholders.

“The result of this synergy has started yielding positive results as a lot of arrest have been made especially of persons buying voter registration cards as prelude to rigging the elections.

“Some political thugs have also been arrested and are being prosecuted in courts of competent jurisdiction. We will also ensure that the police X-squad, intelligence officers and investigators are moved to the field to ensure that politicians moving on election days with tonnes of physical cash for vote buying are apprehended and dealt with according to the provisions of the law.

“We have also deployed intelligence officers who will get embedded in the crowd during political rallies to identify with precision persons encouraging or perpetrating violence.

“Let me state again emphatically that the use of money during the 2023 elections is unacceptable and we will do all we can within the confines of the law to bring offending persons to book.

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu advised Nigeria voters reject inducements to sway their votes through vote buying.

According to him, the negative role of money in elections destroys the basis of democratic elections, renders the emergence of the right candidates extremely difficult, undermines fair electoral adjudication, and destroys the professional and independent conduct of INEC officials and other public agencies involved in elections.

Nigerians were also informed to engage effectively in stopping the negative use of money in the electoral process generally by reporting cases to INEC and other agencies.

The chairman pointed out that the pernicious use of money tremendously increases the likelihood of election violence due to a “win at all costs” mentality among contestants who would have invested a fortune in election.

“Surely, election is not a business venture for profit. Instead, it is an application to serve the people with the understanding that they may prefer someone else on one occasion. But then, there would be an opportunity to reapply after four years. Citizens’ choices must never be subverted by the negative use of money” said Yakubu.

The INEC chairman reminded the public that the ban on cell phones at voting cubicles is still in force.

“We have for some time now reorganised our Polling Units so that ballot boxes are placed next to the voting cubicles to forestall the practice by unscrupulous voters of showing their marked ballot papers to vote buyers” he stressed.

Professor Yakubu appealed to voters to draw the attention of their polling officials wherever they observe that these basic rules are not complied with.

He reassured Nigerians that INEC is determined to ensure a solid election management system and a legacy of credible elections in Nigeria.