The phenomenon of vote-buying is fast making a headway into Nigeria’s political system. Though, not entirely new in the country, vote-buying was one of the major flaws that allegedly marred the last Ekiti State governorship election .
It is a phenomenon whereby money is offered to voters in exchange for a commitment to get their votes during elections.
The level at which the phenomenon was allegedly promoted to the front-burners was quite disturbing as the two major political parties in the Ekiti election, the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party, were alleged to have been practically involved. Both the APC and PDP allegedly engaged one another openly in the battle for the people’s votes with money and the manner at which this was done was quite disturbing.
The foreign election observers as well as their local counterparts were really amazed at this shameful development as they marveled as the ugly phenomenon reared its ugly head into the country’s political system. And they actually noted it in their reports.
President of Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, who was one of the local observers during the election, said: “The incidences of vote buying and inducement became so prominent than it has never been during the Ekiti governorship election.
The foreign election observers as well as their local counterparts were really amazed at this shameful development as they marveled as the ugly phenomenon reared its ugly head into the country’s political system
“This portends a great danger, not only to our electoral process, but also to democracy as a whole. It will simply mean that the choice of leadership will no longer be on the basis of programmes or party manifestos but rather, the highest bidder on election days, no matter how
incompetent.”
Another observer , who is the President, Voters Awareness Initiative, Mr. Wale Ogunade, also lamented the magnitude of the phenomenon.
“Vote-buying is not a new phenomenon in the country. Before now, we have had it in Anambra State, and before Anambra State, we had it in Edo State.
“But before the elections in Edo and Anambra states, it had always been done secretly – like stuffing Naira notes inside loaves of bread or giving out food items and clothes – all with the intention of wooing voters against their conscience to vote for them.
“But no doubt, the Ekiti election took vote-buying to a higher dimension. It has now opened it up because it was done with reckless abandon,” he said.
However, the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission on duty, as well as the security personnel on ground on the election day, simply turned the other eye, allegedly,rather than intervene, as if the trend had become part and parcel of our system.
It was so shamefully perpetrated that decency and decorum were thrown to the marines, with the State Government House, and even the voting centres, allegedly becoming venues for this inglorious and shameful act.
The Point considers vote-buying as a new form of corruption and we are worried that the so-called ‘apostles of change’ as well as supporters of a government that is flaunting its anti-corruption efforts to high heavens were allegedly involved in this shameful act. Nigerians can now see that corruption does not start and end with the stealing of public funds
only.
We believe that the perpetrators of the act were only exploiting the poverty level of the masses by offering them peanuts for their votes instead of promising the electorate good governance.We therefore join other Nigerians in condemning vote-buying in all its entirety, more so, as the Osun Governorship Election
draws near.
We believe that there can be no justification for the shameful act and perpetrators should not be treated with kid gloves any longer as the excuse by the police that vote-buying is not a criminal act is
not tenable.
We, however, commend INEC for boldly rising to the challenge by promising to tackle the menace in the forthcoming Osun governorship election and the 2019 general elections through a re-arrangement of the voting cubicles.
We consider this as the first step in combating the trend while the Federal Government should find a lasting solution to the menace by criminalising it. This, we believe, will finally put a stop to the act and put perpetrators in check.
