The scenario that played out in the Saturday’s Lokoja / Koto Federal House of Representatives Bye Elections in Lokoja and Kogi (Koton Karfe) local governments of Kogi State have left me shocked and dumbfounded.
I wished I was dreaming but No! This was reality starring at me to my face gallantly. I vividly saw and recount how some residents of Lokoja / Koto Federal constituency who were the electorates to that election openly and shamefully sold their votes for N2,000 (two thousand naira only) and three pieces of onions to a political party and it’s candidates. Unbelievable you may think and say! But it happened.
Before I proceed, let me congratulate the “ alleged winner” of that election who I believe off course is basking in the euphoria of a stolen mandate.
“YEYE “ is a political sickness where an electorate who have been suffering economic hardship for years decides to sell his or her vote for peanuts hoping to get cured in the future. The “YEYE sickness is intense during elections as most patient with the sickness can sell their votes for monies ranging from N5000 to N1000 or sometimes N500 as the case may be depending on the politician who is inflicting the sickness on them.
This sickness has to limitations to geographical locations as it ravages the minds of the electorates from the north to the south, to the east and the west of Nigeria. The sickness guarantees swiftly, election into public trust not by credibility or capacity of a candidate to deliver on an accepted mandate but by vote buying.
Politicians who see public office as a business inflicts this sickness on the electorates who are surprisingly willing and ready to be inflicted with it.
Vote buying which I have termed “ YEYE “ is a useful strategy and potent weapon at the disposal of wicked and desperate politicians in today’s Nigeria. These politicians impoverish the electorates to such a level that makes them loose their human dignity thus turning them to political pigs; and as it is often asked what is a jewel (good governance) to pigs?
Vote buying has become the bane of development in Nigeria especially Kogi State in particular.
One pitiable and regrettable aspect of vote buying is that the candidate who buys the vote from the electorates sees his position as a right bought with a price rather than a trust conferred on him by the electorates when elected. This is the reason why most political public office holder do not care about the plight of the people whom they represent no matter the level of their sufferings. They treat the people with outright disregard and disdain.
Not until we the electorates begin to shun the money politics played by these desperate and wicked politicians and concentrate on the credibility and capacity of a candidate for an election, development and progress will continue to elude our communities.
Personally I have lost faith in today’s inec and of course the security agencies to stem this ugly tide until some honest and drastic measures are taken against vote buying.
Whenever you notice the “ YEYE ” Sickness in a friend, colleague or family member please try to educate them of the dangers and implications of selling their votes perhaps it may help heal them of this sickness.
Let’s say No to vote buying. Our vote is our future secure it by voting rightly. Please help spread this message until we can establish an affirmative action against vote buying.
For Man and Society,
– Sani Idakwo Philips.
