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The menace of vote buying in our body politics is a cankerworm that was introduced by the corrupt elites since the inception of the present political setup to monopolize leadership positions to their advantage. Vote buying has been part and parcel of our democratic journey since 1999, sadly so.
In recent times, the issue of vote buying in the country became so pronounced among the political actors, more pronounced by those who hitherto were the beneficiaries of the same pestilence, but, could no longer exert their dominance as it is very clear, things have obviously fallen apart for them and centre can no longer hold.
When I said vote buying has been part of our democratic history since 1999, some wailers and even some few patriotic Nigerians may wonder of when, how and where?. Let me go down Memory Lane, In 1999, I was not only old enough, but, more than eligible to exercise my civic responsibilities (i.e to vote and be voted for). Then, the mode of vote buying was always effected a night to the Election Day and not the pattern we have at the moment. I can still recall vividly in 2003 in my ward how funds earmarked for the prospective voters was shared from house to house a night to the Governorship election in accordance with the numbers of eligible voters in each compound.
The present pattern where funds were being brought to the polling stations by various Political Parties for distribution after seen the evidence of the vote cast on the ballot paper came into effect after the outcome of 2015 Presidential election.
It may interest us to recall that during the 2015 general elections, huge amount of money running into billions of Naira was deployed by the immediate past PDP led government for onwards distribution to the voters, but, most unfortunate for them, their middle men diverted the funds, and in some situations voters collected the money and still went on to vote for the candidates of their choices.
In view of the experiences and lessons learnt from the above mentioned scenario, the PDP structure changed their modus operandi during the Edo State Governorship election by sharing N3,000 each, but, were outdone by the APC led government in the State, when they in turn shared N5,000.
Furthermore, the menace of vote buying in the country is not a one party affairs, but, the share believes and interests of the elites who cut across party lines to perpetuate themselves in leadership positions and continue to keep the ordinary people at bay from governance.
Finally, the decision we take today will decide our future rightly or wrongly.
Forward ever, backwards never.
God bless Federal Republic of Nigeria.
– Yahaya Wada
wadayahaya@yahoo.com
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