The serving Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Anambra State, Elizabeth Agwu, has stated that she has made it impossible for politicians to purchase elections in the last three years.
Agwu said this during a stakeholders’ dialogue engagement organized by the International Press Centre in Awka on Thursday and Friday.
She disclosed that every wealthy politician in the state desires to ‘buy an election,’ but she has made it unpurchasable.
The dialogue’s themed, ‘Rebuilding trust in the electoral process and election’, aimed to foster insightful discourse among key election and democratic governance stakeholders.
Agwu said, “Everybody in Anambra, who knows me, knows that I am a working resident electoral commissioner. I have done three elections here. It is in Anambra that every politician who has money wants to buy elections, but they could not buy elections because I made it unpurchasable for them.
“I told the politicians that if you feel you are strong and rich and you want to buy an election and vote for the winner, you have to give me ₦3bn. Out of it, I will give ₦1bn to my staff and take ₦1bn to enjoy at Caribbean Island or any Island, buying a house and staying there.
“But because it was not possible for anybody to pay me that money, I was allowed to conduct all the elections and these politicians failed. I told Anambra people that those who vote, their votes will count.”
She also disclosed that the Senate had not written to the state INEC to inform it of the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, so that it could conduct a by-election in Anambra South Senatorial District to replace the late Senator.
Agwu urged the Anambra residents, particularly politicians, to adhere to the rules as the state prepares for the upcoming elections.