When journalists, activists united against use of money in politics

A coalition of media practitioners, rights groups and NGOs under the umbrella of ‘OneVoice’ in partnership with the Independent Advocacy Project (IAP) met at a one-day workshop where it was agreed that a time has come for all concerned stakeholders to beam their searchlights on political financing which, they said, is one of the many […]

A coalition of media practitioners, rights groups and NGOs under the umbrella of ‘OneVoice’ in partnership with the Independent Advocacy Project (IAP) met at a one-day workshop where it was agreed that a time has come for all concerned stakeholders to beam their searchlights on political financing which, they said, is one of the many ills bedevilling the nation’s politics and its governance system.
Kick-starting the discourse was the former Editor of the defunct TheWeek magazine, Pastor Deji Adeleye. In his view, the evil associated with political financing stemmed from the fact that there had never been any strong measure or checks as to how the monies are coming in and how they are being spent. The situation, he said, became even more compounded with the political parties operating opaque records, making it difficult for a Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to access. “The political parties have developed a very terrible norm and that has to do with non-compliance with electoral regulation which requires them to open their financial books to the electoral body from time to time. Most of the political parties are also not allowing auditors to access their records,” Adeleye said.
He added that this lacuna has thrived for long owing to the seeming culpability of INEC itself for  refusing to raise an alarm even when this fundamental aspect of the electoral law is continuously breached. According to him, “INEC has never made public the hostility of political parties not allowing it to access their audited financial books. And since 1999, INEC has never written any report indicting these parties and their non-compliance which is a fundamental aspect of the Electoral Act”.  
A political scientist and a lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), Dr Dele Seteolu linked heavy monetization of the electoral process in Nigeria to the governance system in place which, he said, is dictated by majoritarian rule. He said politicians, having mastered the art of wanting to win by all means, and knowing fully that it is a case of “majority carry the vote,” tend to deploy all resources within their disposal, including money, to lure voters. “Majoritarian rule brings about dangerous contestation of power and one resource that has proven quite effective over the years is money! An average politician is ready to spend everything because he knows when he wins, he wins overwhelmingly! This is against the spirit of proportional representation”, Seteolu said.
Grace Ketefe, Deputy Director of Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), said it is unfortunate that having discovered that the Electoral Act is quite restrictive on the amount politicians can spend in an electoral process, a new strategy of sponsoring fake civil rights groups and NGOs has  emerged where state funds are used to mobilise voters. “They come in different names and shades. They will claim they are independent supporters, motivated by altruistic reasons. But we know them too well that they are not genuine NGOs, CSOs  and all of that. We know that it is people in political offices who are using looted funds to sponsor them while they are there fronting under different names and acronyms”, she said.
A lead discussant, Okechukwu Nwanguma said Nigeria has entered a critical time in her developmental phase and except excessive use of money is downplayed in the electoral process, the electorates will always be denied what rightfully belongs to them through the instrumentality of money. “Money is the root of all evils. Money is currently being used in several ways to cheat in the electoral process, especially during campaigns and election proper. We are aware that some rich people who call themselves politicians expend heavily in the campaign of their adopted godsons with the sheer conviction that they will reap bountifully when such a stooge is installed”, he said.
In his contribution, another media practitioner who works with the International Press Centre (IPI), Lagos, Sanmi Falobi said Section 91 of the 2010 Electoral Act was clear enough about how much a politician vying for any particular position can invest in pursuit of his or her aspiration. He said what is most important now is how the electoral body will be strengthened to checkmate incessant violation of the stipulated law.