Date: 2018-08-17

Ilorin, the Kwara State capital was a beehive of activities at the weekend where at two different fora, stakeholders deplored rising cases of financial inducement during electioneering, which was identified as anathema to credible electoral process. AHMED 'LATEEF attended the events and filed this report.

If nothing at all, the July 14th, 2018 governorship election in Ekiti State was indeed a storm in a teacup of the nation's electoral system. From the onset, analysts believed that the election would be a straight fight between the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC). While the incumbent Deputy Governor of the state, Professor Kolapo Olusola Eleka stood as candidate of the PDP, Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former Minister of Solid Minerals, was picked as APC flag bearer.

Candidates also emerged from other political parties that participated in the election, but it was glaring that two major parties dominated the race. The election was conducted preparatory for the exit of Governor Ayodele Fayose, whose tenure ceases October 16, 2018 while the Governor-elect takes over the reign of leadership in quick succession.

At the end of the fierce contest, which drew the South West State known as 'Fountain of Knowledge' to global spotlight, the candidate of APC was declared winner having polled the highest number of votes cast during the election, although the outcome of the election is currently a subject of litigation before the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of the state.

However, before the election was held, there were allegations and counter allegations over plot to rig the poll. While the PDP, which is the ruling party in the state, accused the APC led Federal Government of a grand design to manipulate the process in favour of its candidate with active connivance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, the APC dismissed the allegations and instead alleged that PDP was only crying wolf because all attempts of the latter to skew the process had been uncovered.

As the duo went back and forth, various reports that characterized the pre-election period did not indicate that the election would not be marred with violence and possibly bloodletting going by threats to unleash mayhem in the event that the poll was fraught with irregularities.

Although reports from polling units across the statse indicated that the election was held under peaceful atmosphere, what followed was allegation of open vote buying. It was alleged that leading political parties in the election induced potential voters financially between N4000 and N10,000 dependent on the financial war chest of the parties involved.

The financial inducement was used as a bait to allegedly woo the voters and ultimately win the election at various levels of electoral units in the state. Dr Fayemi of the APC was declared winner of the election to the consternation of the PDP candidate, who had since approached the tribunal in a bid to invalidate the electoral victory of the APC candidate, now Governor-elect.

In spite of the applause that the governorship election went devoid of violence, many Nigerians were yet to come to terms with the issue of financial inducement interchangeably used as vote buying during the election. They were appalled that such untoward practice made nonsense of the nation's democracy still described as nascent even after 19 years uninterrupted.

And shortly after the election, voting buying allegation during the electioneering has taken a centre stage where at different fora, politicians, observers, pundits and analysts among others dissected the issue with the belief that it portends ominous danger for democracy if not eradicated permanently.

The issue of vote buying featured prominently at two different events in Ilorin on Saturday as participants took turns to flay the trend. They also used the fora to challenge the youth, who constitute the active segment of the entire population to shun being financially induced due to the fact the future is at stake.

At Kwara Youth Leadership and Economic Summit held at Arca Santa, Ilorin, speakers decried the attitude of some members of political class, who in their ploy to continuously impoverish the electorate, dangle ridiculous amount of money before them while canvassing their votes during electioneering period.

Speaking at the summit themed "Making Kwara Youth Catalyst for Economic, Socio and Political Development", the chairman, Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state, Mr Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, condemned vote buying that has become synonymous with the nation's polity tracing the menace to nomination of candidates at party level.

He stated that political parties must stop the attitude of putting pressure on candidates unnecessarily but rather request of them their blueprint, which they would translate into reality if elected into public offices.

Bolarinwa said the stand of political parties in curbing pervasive financial inducement in electoral process would encourage aspirants to respect their wishes as to how to better the lots of people they represent, just as he also challenged the youth to stop being enticed with bait.

"Youth have a role to play if in truth and indeed we want to stop vote buying. Vote buying actually starts even from political parties from the way aspirants are seeking nomination for one particular office or the other. How does it start? It starts from followership.

"If the candidate emerges, of course, it is like a market. Politicians would be out there canvassing for votes. When we canvass for votes and we want to see that our party wins, each of the candidates and each of the parties try every means to see that voters are wooed to vote for them. That is also way about voting buying.

"And this kind of menace continues until each and everyone of us decides to put a stop to it. How do we put a stop it? It is better even from party level. We should not make demands from the aspirants who are vying for offices other than now that you say that you are running for this particular office, if you have opportunity of emerging as our candidate, what are the things you intend to do for the people that would eventually elect you.

"By doing that, it even confers some kind of respect on the leadership of the party or the followership, and when the party eventually gets there, it will now make it to even respect the wish of the people. But when you decide on what he or she is going to give you, what it means is that you don't have the opportunity of actually challenging such person. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us. When you collect money from them, it is like mortgaging the future.

"I want to use this opportunity to tell our youth that it is high time we all decide to put a stop to that. Let us go ahead and vote for our conscience and see the good that would come out of it", Bolarinwa said.

At another summit commemorating International Youth Day convened by Brain Builders International, which was held in Ilorin, the Country Director, The One Campaign, Serah Makka-Ugbabe, attributed the pervasive vote buying in the nation's polity to economic challenges at the grass root but admonished the people not to fall for crumbs. She warned that anyone that trades his or her vote for financial inducement has lost the moral right to demand from politicians good governance and positive change.

Serah Makka-Ugbabe called for behavioural change among the voting populace and avoid complacency.

"No organisation should be in support of vote buying, and what that means is that you are selling your four years for N4000. Nigeria is a rich country and no one should buy you for cheap. We understand that the economic challenges grass root area of people, but what we are trying to do is create a campaign called "The One Vote Nija" where people are informed and they are aware about the fact that we actually hold our future in our hands.

"It is persistent. Every election every year gets us closer to the future we believe in. One of the things I know the young people are discouraged about us every four years, we look like we are rolling back to where we started. Change this time. We need patience. But we have to be able to see the future that we want to create in Nigeria and don't let any politician buy your vote for any price.

"When you sell your vote, you shrink your voice to demand change from politicians. When you don't, you elevate your opportunity to say what we deserve in this community is water, light etc. So, you need to fix it, if not, we don't vote you again in the next four years. When you sell your votes, you voice disappears. What we need is behaviour change, it is what matters", Serah Makka-Ugbabe said.

Also speaking, the Executive Director, Brain Builders International, Olasupo Abideen Opeyemi, berated politicians for injecting poverty into the bodies of the electorate through which they hypnotise them while seeking elective offices.

He urged potential voters to reject financial advances from the political class during electioneering season, adding that his organisation would soon launch a campaign against the culture of vote buying in the country.

"I think the politicians have a way of circumventing our psychology. They inject poverty into your body, and when they need you, they just give you the food and then they get what they want to get. But I think it is the problem of re-orientation. For crying out loud, how would a politician give me N4000 for four years? As a lot of social commentators have already said on that, N4000 cannot take you for four years

"My advice to INEC is to entrench its advocacy in that regard. I know this is not only just the work of INEC. It involves collaboration. You are citizens, orientate people at your localities. We know poverty is in the blood but we cannot just continue to say or hide under finger of poverty for collecting fund from some of these people.

"Orientate people, carry out awareness. Let people know that their right could not be traded for N4000, and our own organization would be campaigning against it very soon. We will be leveraging on both the traditional and the new media to launch vote not for buy very soon", he said.

Other participants at the summit were of the view that abolition of vote buying in the electoral system in the country would ensure sanctity and credibility of election, especially as 2019 general elections draw closer.