Lagos: Voters sell votes for N500 – Politicians rush to pay

Posted by admin Elections 2011, Lagos, State News Sunday, April 10th, 2011

Some of the voters, who trooped out to vote in Apapa area of Lagos did not hide their feeling that they wanted cash rewards from political parties before casting their votes.

Residents, who came out en masse to vote in some of the polling stations were overheard threatening to deal with parties if they failed to “honour their promises” before dusk.

When our correspondents visited some of the polling centres, people gathered in pockets to write their names on sheets of paper for party agents.

Also, party agents were seen moving across polling units in cars and on motorcycles to strike last-minute deals with voters.

At some of the polling stations, voters, including women, openly discussed the various amount parties gave to voters to secure their votes.

A male voter in one of the polling centers on Marine Road, Apapa, was overheard telling a female voter, “Whatever they give you now is your gain. Once they get to the office, you may not have access to them any longer. So, collect it now.”

At some of the polling units, voters mistook our correspondents for party officials who came to induce them with money, as they told our correspondents to give them “at least money for ‘pure water’” to facilitate their votes for their party.

At some polling centres around Burma Road, miscreants came in groups to strike deals with party agents.

Some of them insisted that they would not cast their votes for any party until they were bribed.

A leader of one of the miscreant groups who took one of our correspondents for a politician told him, “Sir, we are here; we are very many and we are ready to vote for you. All of us will vote for you.”

Another group leader, who met one of our correspondents in one of the polling stations approached him and said, “Sir, we are about 15 here; we are ready for you. What is on the ground for us?”

At a polling station along Marine Road, party agents were seen giving money to scores of voters who had voted for them. Each received N500.

Votes counted in some wards in Apapa Local Government showed that Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, the Senatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Lagos Central, was in early lead.

In ward D3, Senate results counted showed that ACN had 142 votes while PDP and CPC had 26 and 0 votes respectively.

-Punchwp_posts