A 70-year-old All Progressives Congress (APC) leader identified as Wahab Hammed has been sentenced to one-year imprisonment for vote buying during the Presidential and National Assembly Elections held on February 25.
The Herald understands that Justice Ismail Ijelu of Ikeja High Court in Lagos State, on Thursday, December 7, 2023, sentenced Hammed with a fine option of N500,000 on each of the two counts preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
The commission alleged that the convict was involved in vote-buying and bribery contrary to the provisions of Sections 121 (1) and (5); 121 (1) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
At the proceeding, the judge had asked the defendant if he understood the facts reviewed against him by the prosecution counsel and the defendant answered in the affirmative.
He, thereafter, directed an interpreter to interpret for Hammed who does not understand the English language or pidgin.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Samuel Daji, told the court that the defendant on February 25 conspired with one Segun Ijitola who is still at large to pay voters during the exercise at Unit 28, Gbaja Girls Junior High School in Surulere.
Daji said: “EFCC officers on election monitoring duties were at Surulere on February 25 and received intelligence about the activities of individuals engaging in vote buying and bribery at Polling Unit 28.
“Following an intelligence report, a team of operatives was dispatched to the polling unit, and the defendant was seen sharing money to bribe voters of his party.
“On citing the operatives of the commission, the voters ran away, while the defendant was arrested with the sum of N121,000.