By Ebinum Samuel
The Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria ( GPAAN ), the nation’s foremost organization for public affairs analysts and political commentators has raised alarm over the recurring ugly decimal of both vote selling-by some corrupt politicians and vote buying by the gullible electorate – which have become endemic in our political clime. The disturbing dimension to the electoral process marred the conduct of the recent by- elections across 12 affected states in the country.
It would be recalled that GPAAN, as led by Ayo Oyoze Baje, the National President, Lekan Sote ( Vice President ), Victor Anya ( General Secretary ) in addition to the Zonal Chapter Chairmen in Enugu, Port Harcourt, Ilorin and Abuja, FCT has remained an advocate of sustained Voter Education for the electorate since October 2022 as part of the organization ‘s matching mandate in the pursuit of good governance in Nigeria.
Sadly however, going by several media reports the nauseating menace of vote buying was recorded in Oyo, Ogun, Kaduna, Kano states and led to protests that stalled the balloting in Enugu state. It was also one of the reasons responsible for the arrests of some politicians and INEC officials apprehended by EFCC operatives in some states.
Worthy of note is that the by- elections came about due to the death and resignation of the former occupants, which prompted the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) to declare their seats vacant.
According to INEC a total of 3,553,659 registered voters were considered eligible to participate in the by-elections, distributed across 32 local government areas, 356 wards and 6,987 polling units spread across the 12 states involved in the exercise.
With regards to the incident of alleged vote buying, precisely in Ogun state two chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP were arrested with huge sums of cash allegedly for vote buying during the Remo Federal Constituency House of Representativess by-election. And in a similar vein, the African Democratic Congress,ADC candidate for Ibadan North Federal Constituency by-election, Femi Akin-Alamu
alleged that large scale vote buying characterized the election in Oyo state. In fact, there was open display of financial inducement to eligible voters in some other states, including Kano during the by-election.
Though the EFCC deployed some of its officials to track down the masterminds behind the political malfeasance, it has got worse over the election seasons. Concerned analysts such as Joseph Amaoru ( National Treasurer), Richard Inumah ( Assistant National Secretary), Sola Adesanwo ( Chairman Award Committee) and Comrade Pascal Chimezie have raised concern over the issue insisting that
it should not be allowed to continue as it is inimical to the dictates of democratic culture. The identification of the root causes of vote-buying and the frontal battle to combat such has therefore, become an imperative.
The fundamental reasons of course, include the high levels of the twin evils of corruption and poverty bedeviling the country, Nigeria. These, along with electoral violence are fratricidal factors that have undermined the people’s choice and brought forth political predators who have no allegiance to the people but exhibit crass corruption once they mount the pedestal of political power. To them is all about self aggrandizement, as they see it as a business venture through which they invest by vote selling.
These are evidenced by the disturbing increase in the price of votes now. It used to be about N2000 which later increased to N5000 but reports of the last election mentioned figures between N10,000 and N25,000 per vote. In instances of primary elections, we have seen reports of votes being bought in dollars.
What it means is that we are not practicing true democracy but plutocracy. While democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people, plutocracy is the government of the rich, by the rich with the dividends meant for the rotten rich.
As a way forward, the responsibility to stop vote buying and selling starts from the family level, through the religious and traditional institutions to the schools and the community that nurtures the people. It has become a moral burden on us all as concerned citizens to ensure that INEC adheres strictly to rules and regulations guiding the process to ensure that only the choice of the people get into positions of political power.
Furthermore, the National Assembly should do the needful through thoroughbred
electoral reforms. The least we should settle for, is for election results to be transmitted from the polling units as was promised in the 2023 elections but was aborted by glitches that have remained unexplained.
Of compelling significance also is the need for the political helmsmen to combat the challenge of persisting poverty in the land, instead of latching on it to promote vote selling and buying. The consequences would eventually be dire for both the political elite and the led majority. Prevention would therefore, be safer and cheaper than cure.