The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has stated that the 2023 elections would hold without bags of money at the polling units, adding that the same would be witnessed during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly polls.

INEC also stated that it has concluded plans to conduct credible elections in Rivers State, urging all candidates and politicians to play by the rules of the game.

The Head, of Voters Education, INEC Rivers State, Mark Osulo, spoke yesterday at a National Roundtable on the Roadmap to a Credible and Violence Free 2023 General Elections organised in Port Harcourt by Equity International Initiative, EII.

Osulo assured that Saturday’s election would be free and fair, adding that the new monetary policy of the Federal Government has saved the process of vote buying.

He said: “I assure you that the election is going to be free and fair. There will be no vote buying. It is going in tandem with our plans with stakeholders.

“There will be no money to buy votes. We are going to experience an election without vote buying. There will be no money to buy votes.”

However,the Country Director of EII, Dr Chris Iyala, stated that the 2023 election is crucial to the survival of the nation, noting that the people are holding the INEC to its promise of a free, fair and credible election.

He said the roundtable is to identify what makes up a free and credible election and ensure that the nation experiences the same in elections to come.

Iyala said: “This election is crucial. We are focusing on the credibility of the election. In 2019, we set election situation monitoring and we monitored election at 8000 units.

“We are holding INEC by their word on the statement that they will conduct a free and fair election. For the first time, we have witnessed how elections should be conducted especially with the Osun election.” (Vanguard)