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Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials sort and count ballots during the vote counting process at a polling station in Kano on February 25, 2023, during Nigeria’s presidential and general election. (Photo by KOLA SULAIMON / AFP)
An Ikeja High Court on Wednesday remanded one Wahab Hameed in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged conspiracy and vote buying during the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
Justice Ismail Ijelu remanded the defendant after pleading guilty to a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and bribery preferred against him by the EFCC.
The judge adjourned the trial to Dec. 7 for a review of facts and judgment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports when the charges were being read to the defendant, he told the court that he could neither speak nor understand English language and “pidgin’’ English.
He pleaded that the charges should be read to him in Yoruba Language.
Earlier, The EFCC prosecutor, Samuel Daji, told the court that the defendant on Feb. 25, conspired with one Segun Ijitola, now at large, to pay voters during the 2023 presidential and national assembly elections.
Daji said that the defendant, an alleged member of the All Progressives Congress, committed the offence at Unit 28, Gbaja Girls Junior High School, in Surulere.
The prosecutor said that on the said date, the defendant and his accomplice bribed voters at Unit 28.
He told the court that the offences contravene Sections 121 (1) and (5); 121 (1) and 1 (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Daji added that since the defendant had pleaded guilty to the charges, the court should grant a short adjournment to enable the commission fine tune the facts of the case for a review.
The Defence Counsel, Mr Olabiyi Ademola, conceded a short adjournment of the case to Dec. 7 and prayed the court to remand his client in the custody of EFCC.
