May 29, (THEWILL) – There is a clear danger in Nigeria’s primary electoral process that could deprive the country of quality leaders, if not checked. Millions of people have seen videos circulating on social media or read about how large sums of money were distributed to delegates to buy their votes ahead of the primary elections being conducted by political parties across the country.
Sadly money is now used to determine who gets votes from party delegates. This is a very disturbing trend that we must collectively speak up against.
The main culprits are politicians from the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
While well-meaning citizens of this country were seeking a way out of the doldrums that the country had found itself and hoping that the next administration would begin the process of bringing Nigeria from the brink of total disintegration, delegates charged with the sole responsibility of picking candidates who will make this possible, had other things on their minds.
What Nigerians have witnessed among these delegates instead has been an inclination to abuse this sacred responsibility by indulging in the age-old political ritual known as money-for-votes. This tradition did not take Nigeria anywhere in the past. It will not help to move the needle towards progress today. It will only make the future appear bleaker than it already seems.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, recently warned the nation about the danger in this style of politics. Speaking at a one-day stakeholders’ colloquium organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), with the theme, ‘Emerging issues that would shape the 2023 general elections in Nigeria’ and held on Wednesday, May 25, Yakubu expressed concern over the monetisation of the nation’s electoral process by politicians seeking favours from party delegates.
He said that, if left unchecked, the sleazy money-for-votes ritual had the potential of dragging the nation towards plutocracy or government by an elite or ruling class that derives its power from the wealth of its members.
Considering what it costs to even indicate interest in a political office in Nigeria, one can argue that there is a plutocratic strain already inherent in the system of politics that is operating in the country. Reflecting on the issue, Yakubu’s predecessor, Prof Attahiru Jega, blamed the political class for undermining the integrity of elections as the use of bribes had worsened over time.
Yet, the voice of caution of these past and present INEC Chairmen were by no means the solitary notes of warning against the monetary inducement of delegates to buy their consciences. Former President Goodluck Jonathan decried the pre-eminent value placed on bribes over and above the worth of the candidates that delegates gave their votes to. At the same stakeholders’ colloquium, Jonathan bluntly admitted, more than once, that the system had failed.
He had said, “The primaries going on across the country are a mess. This is not a standard practice. The process has failed. We cannot use the process to elect a President, governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives and others. The failure of the process is not good for the country. But we will manage and move on. We pray that good people will come. I hope that what happened this year will not happen again in this country.”
What is abundantly obvious from the charade of a democratic process that occurred at the primaries recently is that, as a practising democracy, we are still very far from running the type of system that will churn out individuals with the acumen to marshal the abundant human and natural resources the country is blessed with and enable us to take our rightful place in the comity of nations.
There is no gainsaying the fact that each political party reserves its right to determine how its candidates emerge, based on ideology and prerogatives, but that right cannot be without the equally significant responsibility that they owe the country in putting forward men and women of unimpeachable character, exemplary leadership, inspirational lives and sterling traits, who will be charged with leading the country towards progress and making their parties of origin proud.
This lofty nature of the ideal roles of party delegates has not been considered with the pristine sacredness it deserves by the political class in Nigeria. The most egregious examples of this wanton disregard were on display during the primaries organised by the APC and PDP.
Delegates from both political parties considered it their good fortune to be courted by politicians of all stripes seeking to fly their parties’ flags at the 2023 general election. These delegates were willing to sell their votes to the highest bidder and mostly in foreign currencies.
The need for Forex to sweeten the delegates’ palates made the US dollar scarce, consequently driving up the value in the money market. It was a racket that cared little or nothing for ideals and principles, value, responsibility, representative leadership and good governance. Only one objective mattered for what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of these delegates: To make as much money as possible.
This skewed focus on selfish ends was the reason for such embarrassing reports that followed announcements of the results of some of the primaries, as was the case of an unnamed House of Representatives aspirant in Kaduna State.
After losing at the primaries, the candidate employed the frightening and coercive powers of local hunters and vigilante to successfully recover about N100 million, which he used to unsuccessfully lobby some delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party.
There was also the unabashed admission of Adam Namadi, the son of ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo, who made no bones about confessing that he had demanded a refund of the sum of N76 million, which he offered as bribes to help him secure the PDP ticket for the 2023 National Assembly Election in Kaduna North Federal Constituency after his bid failed at the primaries.
Also in Ondo State, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, who failed to win the party’s ticket to return as a representative of Ondo Central Senatorial District, immediately retrieved two vehicles given to some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders and requested a refund of the money (in US dollars) he shared to delegates.
By now it must be obvious that there is nothing positive that Nigeria can reap from this system. We must find an alternative to a situation where, having bought their way into political offices, politicians feel responsible to nobody and busy themselves with trying to recoup their investments in elections.
For a system where the public official is beholden to the people, as democracy truly stipulates, there is the absolute need to strip the system of this delegate bypass and evolve an open participatory system that will promote representative local politics and cut off this cancerous money-suffused poison.
I urge political parties, for the purposes of picking their flagbearers, to a database of their registered members who participate actively in the regular constituency activities and who have taken their time to listen to their party’s class of candidates for elective positions and interacted with them to highlight their local concerns.
It is this set of members that will be granted the power to pick the candidate that most closely reflects the person to take care of their concerns, if elected at the general election.
This process will also help the party to ascertain their candidates’ popularity at the grassroots in-house ahead of the general election and give them a look into areas where they can make adjustments to their campaign to give them a better shot against the opposition. This open system is more efficient, cost effective and useful for the party, its constituents and the candidates themselves. It will bring value to the system and encourage individuals who can deliver the numbers the party will need to carry the day in the general election.
In the final analysis, the executive, legislative and judicial arms of government will have to be involved to move the country away from this embarrassing slide to a free-for-all-moneybags syndrome. All sorts of monetary inducements during electioneering in the form of bribes must be criminalised and the penalties that apply must be stringently enforced and implemented to the letter, if we must truly begin to introduce some much-needed sanity into the electoral system. This is something that ought to have been introduced long ago. Now, it is a necessity for the sake of our democracy and the progress and development that the country needs.
About the Author
