NOA intensifies campaign against vote buying, others

Edo State Directorate of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) yesterday cautioned residents against vote buying by politicians.

It also urged the electorate to vote properly to avoid invalid votes, political thuggery, election violence and ballot box snatching, among other vices.

NOA Director in the state, Mrs. Grace Eseka Ewere, made the appeal ahead of the March 9, 2019 governorship and states Houses of Assembly elections.

Speaking during the agency’s sensitisation campaign against vote buying and selling with the theme: Say No To Vote Buying, she urged the electorate to come out en masse and vote candidates of their choice, as well as avoid violence before, during and after the exercise.

Ewere, who took the campaign to the Benin Central Motor Park on Obakhavbaye Street, some markets and major streets of Benin, was accompanied by members of the agency to enlighten residents, particularly market women and commercial bus drivers.

“Do not sell your votes during Saturday’s election. Once you collect money from any politician and vote them into power, you have mortgaged your future,” she said.