It is 65 days to the general elections with campaigns heavily underway. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying PVCs and dolling out cash to buy over supporters ahead of next year’s election.
The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has now issued a stern warning to such politicians.
During a one day stakeholders meeting in Abuja, Alkali Baba cautioned politicians against using money to induce electorates and subverting the wheel of the masses.
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The Inspector General of Police said any politician found culpable will be arrested and prosecuted.
Lawyer and Political Analyst, Jimmy Abia reacting to the issue on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Mike Okwoche said it is quite possible to reduce money politics in the country especially with what INEC is trying to do.
“If you find an electoral system that cannot easily be manipulated, where politicians know that if they spend their money, they will not get results for it, everybody will going to keep his money.
“But when they find out that that system is porous that they can manipulate the system, that’s when it becomes possible, and becomes necessary to spend that money to induce voters.
He noted that INEC has to tie up loose ends, ensure that all its processes are foolproof.
On the part of the security operatives, Mr Abia said he expects that there should already be some form of profiling, and some form of discrete investigation to ensure that such things are nipped.
“People who are planning such, to distribute money, having to spend money on some of these things, it doesn’t start in a day, It is a planned process because that money will have to leave the system somehow.
” It is possible for the security agencies to track down these things because it’s either they are going to be given as cash or they are going to go through electronic means.
“Some of these can actually be monitored at the level of the security agencies, with INEC doing their own part and then the security agencies playing their own rules.
Speaking further, Mr Abia noted that the mentality of Nigerians allowing themselves to be induced by politicians is gradually changing
because they have realised that whatever you plant today is what you will reap tomorrow.
“A semblance of citizens is starting to know to know that, that 1000, 5000 is not going to secure them for four years of that administration.
“I expected government to do more in that regard, to educate the public because this is about the kind of information, the kind of messaging, we have the National Orientation Agency, which should have been doing some work in this regard,”Mr Abia said.
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