The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been urged to immediately prosecute the Deputy Minority Leader of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Lere Oyewumi who at the weekend admitted to partaking in vote buying during the 2023 general elections.
Senator Lere Oyewumi, the lawmaker representing Osun West Senatorial District at the Red Chamber made the confession in a viral video online while receiving defectors to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Irewole local government.
The publisher and Editor-in-chief of Nigerian Concord Newspaper and Concord Online Television, Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi made the call in Akure, Ondo state capital.
According to him, Oyewumi said he gave out money to influence people to vote for him at a particular polling unit in Ikire, but Tunde Ayandosu, one of the loyalists of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and his people didn’t allow him to win.
Aare Abiodun Oluwarotimi while reacting said that the self confession from the senator alone is enough for the EFCC to prosecute expressly.
According to the publisher, the anti graft agency shouldn’t consider his position as a senator but see him as a commoner who has confessed to committing an electoral offence which is punishable under the Nigerian Criminal Law if found guilty.
Abiodun pointed out that for a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to openly confess to financially inducing voters during an election that made him senator means that he sees himself as untouchable. “And for this reason, the EFCC should immediately make him face justice,” he added.
Citing Section 124 E.A of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Rules and Regulations, Aare Abiodun said that paying money to any other person for bribery at any election attracts a maximum fine of N500,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both if found guilty.
He said the senator should be punished duly as stipulated in the Section 124 E.A of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended for paying people money to vote for him during the 2023 general elections just as he has voluntarily confessed at the weekend.
The publisher pressed further that the EFCC will be doing a serious disservice to Nigeria and Nigerians if it fails to treat Senator Oyewumi as a criminal.
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