Security agencies in Nigeria said they arrested a suspected vote buyer, Shehu Aliyu Patangi, in Kaduna at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, recovering ₦25,963,000 in cash allegedly earmarked to bribe voters ahead of by-elections scheduled for 16 August. The joint operation by the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services took place at a hotel on Turunku Road in Kaduna metropolis. Kaduna State Police Commissioner Rabiu Muhammad described the seizure as a "significant step" toward safeguarding the integrity of the polls and warned that anyone attempting to influence the vote would "face the full weight of the law." Police spokesman Mansir Hassan added that Patangi had confessed and requested leniency. Election-day tensions were further heightened when armed men reportedly seized an INEC van and election materials in Kaduna, while separate arrests in Ogun State involved individuals—believed to include an INEC employee and a politician—found with large sums of cash. Both state commands said additional personnel have been deployed to polling units and collation centres to deter violence and vote buying.