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[JUST IN] NigeriaElection2023: ICPC Arrests 9 Persons For Vote Buying In Osun, Ondo, Borno, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has arrested nine persons for vote buying in Osun, Ondo, Borno, Akwa Ibom and Sokoto States during the Presidential and National Assembly Elections on Saturday.

According to a statement by the Commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua on Saturday, four vote buyers were arrested by the Osun State Office of the ICPC, two persons were arrested by the Sokoto State Office while one person each was arrested by the Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Borno Offices of the anti-graft agency.

The four vote buyers arrested in Osun State are Adewale Teslim, 32 years; Yemi Adebiyi, 42 years; Shake Idris, 36 years, and Emiola Joseph Oluwole, 69 years. The suspects, who are in Osun State Office custody, were found with documents containing lists of names, phone numbers and account details of voters during the election in the State.

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READ ALSO: #NigeriaElection2023: APC National Chairman, Adamu Loses Polling Unit To Peter Obi

Operatives of the Commission retrieved a list of names and phone numbers of voters from Adewale Teslim at Polling Unit 07, Ward 07, Ile Aganna in Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun State.

The officers also recovered a list of people who had voted with their phone numbers and account details from Yemi Adebiyi at Polling Unit 06, Ward 04 at Ikirun Junction, Ikirun while Shake Idris was arrested at Polling Unit 6, Ward 10, Ofatedo area of Osun State with a notebook containing over 100 names and account numbers.

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The anti-corruption agency also recovered a notebook containing a list of voters’ names and account details from Mrs. Afolabi Adijat at Ward 5, Polling Unit 04 of Ansar-ud-deen Mosque area of Olorunda Local Government. The agency’s officers, however, couldn’t arrest Mrs. Afolabi Adijat due to the volatility of the area and insufficient armed personnel.

The Ondo State Office of the ICPC arrested one Mrs. Idowu-Yemi Omolere at Polling Unit 12, Ward 12 behind Dada Estate Police State in connection with the distribution of recharge cards to voters.

The ICPC personnel recovered 24 pieces of N500 recharge cards, a list of voters and their phone numbers as well as a techno phone.

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READ ALSO: #NigeriaElections2023: Obi Floors Tinubu In Lekki Polling Units

The Borno State Office of the ICPC arrested one Garba Bahausa at the Bulunkutu Ward in possession of four PVCs and the sum of Forty Nine Thousand Naira (N49,000). The suspect distributed the money, food items and 20 wrappers.

In the course of his interrogation, Bahausa confessed that the money was given to him by a lawmaker to distribute to voters.

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The Akwa Ibom State Office of the ICPC arrested a woman, Mrs. Idara Umoren, for collating the names and account details of voters suspected to have voted for her preferred candidate.

Umoren was arrested at the Signature Hotel Polling Unit on Plot 48G Line, Ewet Housing Estate, Akwa Ibom.

In Sokoto State, ICPC operatives arrested two persons – Hassan Muhammad and Nafisa Sani – for vote buying at the Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto.

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Hassan Muhammad was caught in possession of signed tickets which were given to voters that voted for his party. The ticket enabled the voters to be given women wrappers and bags of rice. Nafisa Sani was intercepted while giving wrappers to voters at a polling unit in Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto.

The ICPC Team also monitored the election in the Federal Capital Territory where it observed that INEC officials exhibited pronounced slackness in the administration of the elections in Lambata and Yebu Polling Units of Kwali Area Council.

Accreditation and voting were yet to commence in many polling units of the Kwali Area Council due to inadequate supply of electoral materials.

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The ICPC operatives visited the INEC Office in Kwali Area Council to compel the officers in charge to provide voting materials which aided the commencement of the exercise in the area council.

READ ALSO: #NigeriaElections2023: Datti Loses Polling Unit To PDP, Came Far Third

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, OFR, has commended the officers of the ICPC State Offices and the Headquarters for diligently monitoring the Presidential and National Assembly elections across the Federation, thereby curtailing vote buying by some representatives of political parties.

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He directed the State Offices to carry out a detailed investigation of all those arrested for acts of corruption during the election on Saturday.

The Commission had on Friday taken into custody one Hassan Ahmad who was in possession of the sum of two million naira cash in both old and new currencies in Bauchi State.

Ahmad was arrested by the Troops of 33 Artillery Brigade Operation Safe Conduct deployed to Alkaleri in Bauchi State and handed over to the Bauchi State Office of the anti-corruption

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Why DSS Questioned Me Over Viral Threat Video — Lagos NURTW Boss

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The Lagos State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Mustapha Olanrewaju, popularly known as Sego, has explained why he was grilled by the Department of State Services following a viral video in which he was accused of making threats ahead of the 2027 elections.

In the clip, Sego was heard speaking in Yoruba, saying: “Anyone who makes any mistake in 2027 will be dealt with. Let it be known: the APC is your party. Those who don’t comply will face us.”

The video sparked outrage online, with critics accusing him of incitement and political intimidation.

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READ ALSO:DSS Arraigns Sowore Over Anti-Tinubu Post

Speaking after his session with the DSS, Sego said, “Good afternoon everyone. My name is Alhaji Mustapha Adekunle Olanrewaju. I have been with the DSS since morning. I just left them around after 7. They just released me on bail.”

He insisted the claims against him were false. “I heard they invited me because of a propaganda that I insulted some people or something like that. So that is a fake rumour. What I was talking about was national union (NURTW),” he said.

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Sego argued that rival groups within the union were behind the controversy. “We all know that every profession has its rival. As politicians have rivals, mechanics have rivals too. So it is the NURTW rivals that don’t want my work in Lagos to be successful. So they are looking for means to scatter it and cause trouble. They are the ones I was talking to and letting the world and the DSS and the Police know that NURTW is a peaceful union.”

READ ALSO:Lagos NURTW Boss Reacts To Alleged Threat To Voters As DSS Grilled Him Over Viral Video

He described the allegations as propaganda. “It is the naysayers that want to be peddling false rumours. So what the DSS have been grilling me about is not what it seems. It is just propaganda. I concentrate on my work. You can be part of any association. We all know the party we want to associate with.”

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Sego added that the invitation was aimed at distracting him from his duties. “Since morning, I am supposed to be in my office but I have been with the DSS. This is an attempt to destabilise me and the NURTW in Lagos,” he said.

The NURTW have been accused in past elections of being used to intimidate opponents or sway voters, allegations the union has consistently denied.

During the 2019 and 2023 polls, clashes linked to transport union factions raised concerns about the use of motor park leaders in political disputes.

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Youths Beat Ondo Monarch, Wife, Son During Festival

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Crisis erupted in Idogun community, Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Friday as some irate youths allegedly beat up the town’s monarch, Oba Moses Bakare, his wife, and his son, identified as Victor.

The incident, which occurred during the annual New Yam festival, left the monarch injured while his wife was reportedly beaten and stripped half-naked by the angry youths.

Though the cause of the attack could not be immediately ascertained, a resident of the town, who pleaded anonymity for fear of reprisal, said some residents had long been at loggerheads with the monarch.

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READ ALSO:Man Hacks Grandmother To Death In Ondo

The source stated, “The angry youths really assaulted the monarch and his wife and son. We don’t know what caused it but we know that some youths in the community don’t like the Oba; we don’t know why.

“If not the swift intervention of security operatives, the matter would have degenerated to a full-blown crisis in the town.”

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Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, told PUNCH Online that an investigation had commenced.

The case is under investigation and we are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is served,” the PPRO stated.

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Police Arrest Officer, UNIPORT Student Over Cult-related Violence

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The Rivers State Police Command says it has arrested two suspected cultists and recovered firearms and ammunition during a signing-out ceremony for final-year students at the University of Port Harcourt.

In a press release signed on Friday by its Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, the command said the suspects, a police officer and a student, were getting ready for clash with rival cultists before their arrest.

Iringe-Koko said, “On September 26, 2025, at about 1600hrs, during the activities marking the signing out of final-year students at the University of Port-Harcourt, the University’s Internal Security team confronted a suspected cult member , Police Corporal Onwukwe Godswill ‘m’ attached to the Elimgbu Division and a 200-Level Biomedical Technology undergraduate student of the University, Ifeanyi Israel ‘m’ in anticipation of a clash with rival Cultists on campus.”

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Both suspects were taken into custody and searched, the statement added.

During the initial search, the PPRO said weapons, including pistols, ammunition, and axes, were recovered.

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“A subsequent search of the house of the suspected cult leader, Cpl Onwukwe, by the operatives, resulted in the recovery of the following additional exhibits: one (1) locally made pistol and two (2) machetes,” she added.

The command said the suspects and exhibits are currently in police custody as an in-depth investigation is underway to determine the full extent of their involvement and identify any accomplices.

READ ALSO:Police Confirm Abduction Of 17 Passengers Along Calabar Waterway

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Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, reiterated the force’s commitment to maintaining peace.

He warned that “there will be no hiding place for criminals in the State” and urged the public to report suspicious activity to security agencies.”

PUNCH Online recalls that the Rivers Police Command last week also arrested a security guard simply identified as Godday over the alleged abduction and defilement of a 14-year-old girl in the Mothercat axis of Trans-Amadi in Port Harcourt.

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The suspect was said to have been arrested last Tuesday by officers of the Amadi Police Division in partnership with security personnel of another bank adjacent to the scene of the crime.

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