- Inducements make citizens slaves to politicians – Experts
Election management and monitoring experts have lamented that politicians’ interest and seriousness to campaigns during elections have waned drastically, alleging that political parties and their candidates count on vote-buying to win elections.
They noted that ongoing preparations in Ondo State ahead of the governorship election indicated that those seeking to govern the state have not been doing so much in terms of convincing the electorate with their plans for the citizens.
According to them, the outcome of tracking of political parties’ budgets for the Ondo election revealed that politicians budgeted more for inducing voters rather than actually selling their agenda to them.
The experts made these claims during their separate interviews with The Point
According to the Electoral Act, 2010, Article 130, “A person who – (a) corruptly by himself or by any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, directly or indirectly gives or provides or pays money to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or refrain from voting at such election, or on account of such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting at such election; or (b) being a voter, corruptly accepts or takes money or any other inducement during any of the period stated in paragraph (a) of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both.”
One of the experts who is the Programme Manager of one of the civil societies monitoring the forthcoming Ondo gubernatorial poll, Justice Development and Peace Maker Centre, Osogbo, Osun State, Festus Ojewumi, said the reports that the organisation have been getting from the trackers it trained to track campaign finances of political parties ahead of the election in Ondo, showed that governorship candidates only campaigned for about a month out of the 150 days that the Independent National Electoral Commission stipulated.
He said party flag bearers and other politicians no longer engage prospective voters on their plans if elected, rather, they have been working towards buying votes before and during elections.
“The outcome of tracking of political parties’ budgets for the Ondo election revealed that politicians budgeted more for inducing voters rather than actually selling their agenda to them”
According to Ojewumi, who is also coordinating the EU-SDGN project that centres on promoting inclusive participatory and accountable democratic governance in Ekiti, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, indications have revealed that politicians do spend more on vote-buying than campaigns.
Ojewumi explained further that politicians no longer abide by the statutory election period issued by INEC in a bid to cut the cost of campaigns.
He said out of the about five months given by INEC for political parties to campaign, the trend has been that parties only make use of the last month within the period to campaign, noting that the development is not healthy for the electoral system and good governance.
Noting that the interest of politicians for holistic and deep campaigns is waning, Ojewumi explained that, “For instance, in Ondo State, it was mid-September and early October that campaign actually picked up. It is actually affecting the electoral system. Our findings revealed that there has been a limited number of campaigns.”
He stated, “We actually deployed 16 campaign finance trackers for the Ondo governorship election, so, whatever I am telling you is based on the reports we have received from our trackers. Based on the issue of vote-buying and the number of campaign activities, INEC actually gave 150 days for campaigning but we discovered that most of the time, it is when elections are left within a month that politicians start campaigning properly. If we are to say 150 days, that should be five months but campaigns only pick up once a month for the period to be over. For instance, in Ondo State, it was mid-September and early October that the campaign actually picked up. It is actually affecting the electoral system. Our findings revealed that there has been a limited number of campaigns.
“On the issue of vote-buying, there are lots of inducements by politicians even on election day. Before the election day, there is a kind of mobilisation even at the ward level, a certain amount of money is given to ward leaders for mobilising the electorate ahead of election.
On this issue of vote-buying, based on our report, and the last 2020 Ondo State Gubernatorial election, it actually revealed that there is a lot of money going into inducing voters as a form of voters’ inducement which is actually making citizens to be slaves to politicians.
“Campaign in Ondo State started around July or so and according to the Electoral Law, it stated 150 days as against the 90 days by the former Electoral Law. Now, based on our certain experience in terms of political happenings in Ondo State, we discovered that the campaign only picks up when it is like two months to the election. For the first two, three months of the announcement for commencement of campaign by INEC, there have been very few campaigns in Ondo State.”
He, however, appealed to the electorate in the forthcoming off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State not to trade their votes for financial gains, stressing that such a move will make them slaves to politicians for a long time.
Another election management and monitoring specialist, Bright Oniovokukor, said observations of his civil society organisation revealed that politicians have been reducing budgets on campaigns while increasing the prices at which they buy votes from voters.
He condemned the act of vote-buying, saying it would further rob Nigerians of good governance and dividends of democracy.
“Any candidate who doesn’t have the money to buy votes only wants his name to appear on the ballots and not compete to win the election”
According to Oniovokukor, the Executive Director of a CSO, Indomitable Youths Organization, political office holders who bought their ways into governments would only focus on recouping their money rather than making life comfortable for the masses.
Oniovokukor who monitored and participated actively in the recently held Edo State Governorship Election, told THE POINT during an interview that political parties campaigned less and increased the amounts they paid voters during the polls.
The social activist lamented that voters only concentrate on their immediate financial challenges, forgetting about their future and that of their children.
Sharing his experiences about Edo polls, he said, “Voters were selling their votes as high as N10, 000, N15, 000 and N20, 000 in some cases depending on the area one is. And when you calculate all this, you will discover that politicians are actually saving their money for vote-buying. Using the Edo election held recently as a case study, I can confirm to you that people sold to the highest bidder. While some parties were given N1, 000 and N2, 000, others were given N10, 000, N15, 000, depending on their location.
“For us, we condemn vote-buying and this trend has been embraced by many. It is robbing people of good governance because if I bought your vote as a politician and I won election, I am not answerable to you and people who sold their votes may not expect anything from people that are voted.”
He added, “We can say it is a statement of fact that politicians budget more money for buying votes, having a retrospect into the Edo State Governorship election in particular. Yes, politicians did their campaign normally but we also saw that the tempo of the campaign was a deviation from what it used to be. In terms of the tempo of the campaign, yes, we have the local governments and wards like house to house campaigns. We know that using posters to deface some places is not a good practice but it is something that people use to show that they are campaigning.
“One thing that I noticed in this past election is that the handbills and other posters that were shared at campaign grounds were so few. It is also a sign that people don’t want to invest money in those areas.
When you now come to per minute jingles and other broadcast campaigns, Labour Party had more of their jingles coming up on air compared to other political parties.
“Could it also be that it is because they don’t want to spend money in those areas? When you now come to the election day proper, yes, we have records of vote-buying, which was not a deviation from what has been happening but there is a difference in this particular one. Are we trying to say that inflation has caught up with the price that people sell their votes? Normally, before, you could see politicians buying drinks, snacks for people who came to vote, giving them N1, 000, N500 as the case may be.
“But now, voters are selling their votes as high as N10, 000, N15, 000 and N20, 000 in some cases depending on the area one is. For us, we condemn vote-buying and this trend has been embraced by many. It is robbing people of good governance because if I bought your vote as a politician and I won election, I am not answerable to you and people who sold their votes may not expect anything from people that are voted.”
Warning against de-emphasising campaigns and people trading their ballots, the expert noted that many citizens would suffer the consequences.
According to him, “When you look at the Edo election for instance, up to 25 per cent of people who registered determine who the next governor will be. Now, if from that 25 per cent, maybe the person bought 10 per cent, that 10 per cent is not up to 5 percent of the total population of the people that the governor is coming to govern, you could imagine someone buying two percent of the votes of the population, it will affect the other 98 percent. Our system is not helping matters because the larger percentage will suffer for it once those who bought are recouping their money.
“Vote-buying has never and will never give us good governance. To these politicians, it is like an investment and what do you do when you invest, you make profit. It is a very great challenge but unfortunately, anytime an election is coming, Nigerians continue to fall into the trap of only thinking of the immediate now and forgetting about tomorrow,” he stated.
On November 16, all eyes would be on Ondo people as they file out to elect the governor that would steer the ship of the state for the next four years, beginning from February 24, 2025.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, no fewer than 19 political parties will participate in the forthcoming poll.
Recently, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, disclosed that over two million Ondo residents registered for the election, saying the commission had concluded its Continuous Voters Registration Exercise.
The political parties that would compete to produce the next Ondo governor include the ruling All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Accord Party, Action Alliance, African Action Congress, African Democratic Congress, African Democratic Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance.
Others are Allied Peoples Movement, Action Peoples Party, Boot Party, Labour Party, New Nigeria Peoples Party, National Rescue Movement, Peoples Redemption Party, Social Democratic Party, Youth Party, Young Progressives Party and the Zenith Labour Party.
However, less than two weeks before the election, it’s been observed that political activities in the state have been at low ebb across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
Of the 19 political parties for the election, only five have a few of the posters and billboards of their candidates in some locations across the state.
These are for the candidates of the APC (Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa), PDP (Agboola Ajayi), SDP (Bamidele Akingboye), ZLP (Abass Mimiko) and the NNPP (Gbenga Edema), while the remaining candidates seem not to be preparing for the election. As a result of their inactivity, a large number of the electorate are still wondering who some of the candidates are, following their inability to sell themselves to the people.
The only activity that is currently going on in the political arena of the state, particularly between the ruling APC and the main opposition party, PDP, is the defection of members.
Some chieftains have left the PDP to join the APC and vice versa but many of the candidates have taken their campaigns to the social media as an alternative to house-to-house, town to town and village-to-village campaigns whereas those people at the grassroots, who often go out in the large number to vote on election day hardly have access to the social media. Unfortunately, many dwellers in the villages can’t even read, let alone have smart phones to read political manifestos on social media.
A political school of thought attributed the development to the economic hardship in the country.
Many of the candidates of the less popular parties allegedly lack the financial capacity to embark on a full campaign round the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
It was gathered that some of them in the race relied on donations from friends and political associates to fund their campaigns and the election preparations in general while the candidates who have the financial muscles are being prudent in order not to be ‘licked dry’ before the election.
A source in one of the parties alleged that some of the big political parties have allegedly stockpiled huge amounts of money in their vaults and strong rooms in readiness for the illegal vote-buying on Election Day.
He said the concerned parties were ready to buy votes for as much as N20, 000 or more per vote just as it allegedly happened in the last governorship election in Edo State.
This is coming despite the Ondo INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Babalola’s promise that security agencies would be fully on ground on the Election Day to prevent all forms of electoral malpractices.
“I can tell you for free that it is going to be money for money. That is the plan of the big parties,” a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because his political party didn’t authorise him to speak on the matter, said.
“So, any candidate who doesn’t have the money to buy votes only wants his name to appear on the ballots and not compete to win the election. I know our party has kept money to spend on that day. I learnt some other parties are waiting for the day too. That is why I don’t see them spending much money to campaign.
“This is because in some communities in Ondo State, they don’t need your campaign, if you campaign till tomorrow and don’t give them money on Election Day you are just wasting your time. So, the politicians have known them and understand them. I believe it is part of the new strategy the politicians are adopting now. It is very obvious that the campaigns are not the way they used to be.”
A public affairs analyst, Gbenga Abimba, said the inability of the participating political parties in the state to embark on campaigns on time was as a result of the alleged plan of politicians to win election without serious campaigns.
According to him, the political class in the country has taken the electorate for granted because they believe campaigning is not a major tool to achieve victory in an election.
Abimbola said, “The big parties have the money but they don’t want to spend for the campaign. They would rather wait for Election Day to share money with the people. On the other hand, the less popular parties don’t have the money to campaign round the state and thus resort to using social media to campaign but how far would they go? I think it is what played out in Edo State that is likely to take place here.
“On the other hand, the people no longer have trust and confidence in their campaigns because they know that little or nothing from the campaign promises would be delivered. But I know they would still come out to campaign, maybe a few days to Election Day to wrap up the whole process.”
Edo governorship poll in retrospect
No fewer than nine suspects were arrested by personnel of the Nigeria Police Force during the just-concluded Edo State governorship election.
While eight were arrested for suspected vote buying, the ninth suspect posed as a fake journalist, claiming to be a staff member of a leading television station in the country.
In a statement during the September 16, 2024 elections, the Force Spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said two suspects, Emotingham Godspower and Farawei Isaac, were key members of the People’s Democratic Party.
Adejobi added that the two PDP members were connected to two kingpins identified as “Atiku” and “The Boss.”
He said, “In yet another comprehensive operation, police operatives conducted synchronized raids on identified black spots on September 20, 2024, at approximately 1900 hours.
The well-coordinated effort led to the arrest of two key suspects, Emotingham Godspower (25) and Farawei Isaac (27), both from the Ufunama community, Ovia South West LGA, Edo State.
“The suspects, connected to a larger network involving one ‘Atiku’ and a kingpin known as ‘The Boss,’ were apprehended at So Cash Guest House in Ekpoma, where a substantial amount of cash and incriminating items were recovered.
These items included a list of voters’ names with corresponding monetary values, a collection of pre-filled ballot papers, and a set of fake identification cards.”
He also stated that six other suspects were arrested with a large sum of money, weapons, and other items.
Adejobi added, “Furthermore, six suspects, namely Suleiman Abdurahim, Fatima Yakubu, Yusuf Aminat (52 years), Salihu Lukman (54 years), and Safianu Saratu (32 years), were all arrested at Aibotse Secondary School, beside Meremu Hotel, Auchi, for engaging in vote buying.
“This group was found with a large sum of money, a cache of weapons, and a detailed plan outlining strategies for voter intimidation.
“A fake journalist, who claimed to be a staff member of one of Nigeria’s leading television stations, was also apprehended, further highlighting the extent of the criminal network.
“Our team’s meticulous planning and swift action has dealt a significant blow to those seeking to undermine and discredit the electoral process. We remain vigilant and committed to ensuring a free, fair, and peaceful election. Investigations are ongoing, and updates will be provided as events unfold.”
INEC not to blame for Edo vote-buying — Spokesman
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission stated that it should not be blamed for the vote-buying that occurred during the Edo State governorship election on September 21, 2024.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated that vote-buying is a widespread issue linked to the actions of political parties and not the electoral body.
“Vote-buying and alleged result manipulation are all tied to unscrupulous attempts to gain an unmerited advantage in order to win an election.
“INEC can and should not be held responsible for vote-buying. We are doing our best to fulfill our expected roles.
“Other stakeholders should also play their part and stop undermining the electoral process,” Oyekanmi said.
The Edo governorship election was overshadowed by allegations of voter manipulation, vote-buying, and irregularities.
Election observers, including civil society organisations, condemned the process, with some rejecting the results in certain local government areas.
The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, a CSO, Samson Itodo, reported that political parties bribed voters with amounts ranging from N5, 000 to N10, 000.
“All — at least the major political parties — were involved in vote-buying,” Itodo said.
In defence of INEC, Oyekanmi noted that the commission had consistently worked to improve the credibility of elections and had implemented various recommendations from national and international observers.
“The commission has, over the years, fought ferociously to ensure the credibility of elections.
“We have consistently implemented various recommendations offered by our national and international observers, which are implementable through administrative means.
“I think the commission deserves some commendation for its efforts. It’s really tough managing the electoral system in this country. The onus is now on political actors and voters to play their expected roles and work with INEC to stop the menace of vote buying,” he added.
