Chief George Moghalu, governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the ongoing Anambra election, has expressed concern over reports of vote-buying in parts of the state.
Speaking with journalists on Saturday at his residence in Nnewi north LGA, Moghalu said despite the heavy deployment of security personnel for the election, he had received reports of widespread vote-buying.
“The situation is scandalous and very embarrassing. The issue of vote-buying is no more a speculation. It happened very aggressively in the last by-election. This time around, I’ve been receiving reports of the same thing happening,” he said.
He added that he expects security agencies to clamp down on those involved.
“With the quantity of security personnel that has been brought into Anambra state for the purposes of this election, I expect that vote-buyers by now should have been caught and stopped,” he said.
He described the trend as “most unfortunate”, and warned that the crime undermines the integrity of the electoral process.
“The worst form of corruption is electoral corruption. Because by electoral corruption, you put in office people who are not credible, people who are not qualified, people who should not hold responsible offices. At the end of the day, it is the people that suffer,” he added.
Moghalu said he remains optimistic on the outcome of the election, as he had campaigned extensively and presented his manifesto to the electorate.
“I’m very optimistic. I’ve done everything I should do according to the rules. I sleep peacefully. I watch everything play out. One of the things I present to the people is my experience, both in the public and private sectors. And I always ask people to verify who I am,” he said.
“Power belongs to God and He gives to whom He pleases. What we are doing is making ourselves available for the will of God to prevail.”
