The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set out to hunt for some voters who chased away its officials from a polling unit during the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
The election in Ekiti State which took place on Saturday, 20th of June, 2026 has declared Biodun Oyebanji the winner.
But some EFCC officials told Punch that voters at Polling Unit 10, Ward B in Iyin-Ekiti, reportedly confronted EFCC operatives who had arrived to monitor vote-buying during Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
Some of the voters challenged the presence of the anti-graft officials at the polling unit and questioned their deployment to the unit, leading to a confrontation that forced the officials to withdraw.
Voting continued without disruption after the incident as EFCC officials reportedly left peacefully.
But in a chat with Punch, the officials tagged the action as illegal and a dangerous precedent that shouldn’t be allowed to stand.
One of the sources said the commission saw the development as an attack on its lawful mandate and warned that the suspects could face legal action.
“We regard the action as unlawful and unacceptable. Criminality will not be tolerated by the commission. “We are hunting those responsible,” the official said.
The official said the EFCC was particularly concerned about the implications of the incident on future elections if it was allowed to fester.
“The actions of those voters have set a dangerous precedent. Permitting such conduct to go on may encourage others to impede law enforcement officers in the performance of legitimate assignments during elections.
“If that is the case, we will look at it seriously and the actors in that scenario. We will make sure we find them and see what we can do.”
“You cannot just choose to prevent officials of the commission from performing their statutory responsibilities,” the source said.
The EFCC, the official said, would not be intimidated in its efforts to curb vote-buying and other electoral offences.
“Vote-buying is wrong, we say, and we will not condone it. We are not going to let anybody intimidate us. “We will not be cowed by any kind of harassment.
“We will continue to fight vote-buying and cleanse the electoral process. “That responsibility has been entrusted to us and we will not abandon it due to threats or resistance from any quarter,” the official said.
