The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on Friday said it has deployed two hundred armed operatives to fight vote buying in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Kano Zonal Commander of EFCC, Farouk Dogondaji, made this known during an interview with NAN in Kano.

Dogondaji said that the deployment was part of EFCC’s commitment towards ensuring transparent and credible 2023 elections in the zone.

He said, “We have deployed fifty personnel to monitor the conduct of the election in Kano State, fifty in Jigawa State and fifty in Katsina State to prevent vote buying throughout the electoral process.

“The remaining [fifty] officers were deployed to Malam Aminu Kano International airport in Kano and the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Airport in Katsina.”

According to Dogondaji, the commission has enough personnel on standby, adding that they are battle ready for any threat, even during and after the election.

Also, officials of the EFCC on Saturday morning stormed the polling unit of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The Commission’s officials arrived at the polling unit 085 Ward F, in Ikeja around past nine in the morning to see if they could catch people buying votes.

Unfortunately, voting has not begun at the polling unit as at the time they arrived. No INEC official has arrived as at the time they came.

Hundreds of journalists were on ground at the polling unit when the EFCC officials arrived. There were also large number of policemen on ground.

The officials left few minutes after as there was no vote buying going on.

Meanwhile, the EFCC on Friday intercepted N32.4 million new notes suspected to be used for vote buying in Lagos.

In a post on its Twitter handle on Friday, the anti-graft agency said officials also arrested a suspect who has been taken into custody for questioning.

“The massive operation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to deter vote trading and other financial malfeasance ahead of tomorrow’s presidential and national assembly elections may have begun paying dividends with the interception in Lagos of the sum of N32,400,000 allegedly suspected to be used for vote buying in Lagos,” the statement read.

“The recovery was made by operatives of the Lagos Zonal Command of the Commission. The suspect involved has been taken into custody for further questioning.”

On his part, EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa charged officials of the anti-graft agency deployed for election monitoring duties to show courage.

Bawa also asked them not to give room for unscrupulous persons to undermine the integrity of the elections through financial inducement.

“Tactical teams of operatives are currently on the ground in all the states of the federation and the FCT. Telephone hotlines have already been circulated through social media for members of the public to share information regarding financial malpractices with agents of the Commission.

“Members of the public are encouraged to report anyone trying to buy or sell votes by making use of the EFCC financial crimes reporting App, Eagle Eye, which is available for download on the Google Play or Apple store,” the statement added.

Earlier, security operatives arrested a federal lawmaker, Dr. Chinyere Igwe, with $498,100 on suspicion of attempted vote buying and money laundering.

The lawmaker who represents Port Harcourt Federal Constituency 2 in the House of Representatives was arrested along Aba Road in the state capital on Thursday.

These incidents come amid a scarcity of the new naira notes, subjecting millions of Nigerians to hardship. The situation also triggered protests in some states with aggrieved citizens barricading major roads to register their displeasure.

The 2023 general election has started  across the 36 States in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory.