On votes buying

Buying of votes during elections has become a recurrent menace, a hydra-headed monster that needs to be addressed once and for all. Since our return to civilian rule in 1999, this issue of vote-buying has dominated discourse. The latest case of alleged vote-buying was during the just concluded gubernatorial election in Ekiti State. Many sources […]

Buying of votes during elections has become a recurrent menace, a hydra-headed monster that needs to be addressed once and for all.

Since our return to civilian rule in 1999, this issue of vote-buying has dominated discourse. The latest case of alleged vote-buying was during the just concluded gubernatorial election in Ekiti State. Many sources including election observers lamented how vote-buying undermined the credibility of that election. 

In Nigeria, an average voter can sell his vote from between N500 to N10,000. In the recent Ekiti election, it was alleged that the price of one vote skyrocketed to N10,000. 

This is happening in our country, but what I don’t understand is why those responsible for checkmating it are not doing that. 

The major perpetrators are political parties and their moneybag politicians. These are the two groups that finance vote-buying in the country. One of the functions of a political party is to enlighten its members, but in Nigeria the reverse is the case. Instead parties engage in propaganda that only compound people’s ignorance.  Most party leaders are only interested in one thing-money. Therefore, to these kind of people, buying of votes during election is not a  big deal.

By engaging in vote-buying, we are undermining one of the civic duties of every citizen. Our Constitution has spelt out unequivocally, rights and duties of Nigerian citizens. Every effective citizen is expected to discharge his duties diligently without expecting anything in return. These duties include among others; dishing out information to security agencies about the hideouts of suspected criminals, respecting our currency, national symbols, national anthem and voting during election. None of these duties are paid for. As a good citizen you ought to have the right conscience to perform these functions selflessly. But today, one of these duties is being commercialised by moneybag politicians.

And the danger here is that, in the future, we will have unpatriotic citizens; people who will not do anything except they are paid. We will lack genuine volunteers, nationalism and patriotism will become history. 

There is therefore a need to address this issue. Parties and politicians who promote vote-buying should be arrested and prosecuted. It is bribe and we have laws to tackle it.

Citizens should also be sensitised on their duties. 

Comrade Bishir Dauda wrote from Sabuwar Unguwa, Katsina State.