The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
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“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
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“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/EbHsGJTv158″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
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“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/EbHsGJTv158″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/EbHsGJTv158″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/EbHsGJTv158″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.tvcnews.tv/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]
“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has raised the alarm that some politicians are buying permanent voter cards and financially inducing unsuspecting voters to harvest their voter identification numbers ahead of the 2023 elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner overseeing the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and such a state, Muhammad Haruna, who raised this alarm, disclosed that two people were recently convicted for illegal possession of PVCs in Sokoto and Kano State.
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Jide Ologun speaking on TVCBreakfast with Veronica Dan-Ikpoyi and Kemi Fola-Adeyemo said with the provisions of the law, it should be a difficult thing to perpetrate but then he would not rule out compromises especially from key players.
He stated that the country has a very strong law under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended which also stipulates that on conviction you either pay a million naira or twelve months in prison or both.
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“It has also been reported that two persons have been jailed, convicted in Sokoto and Kano state.
” Vote buying is corruption. Section four of the Nigerian constitution as amended, it says that the National Assembly shall make laws for the peace, orderliness and good governance of Nigeria.
“In section 153, INEC was created to carry out credible elections, monitor the politicians, monitor the expenses and ensure that we have credible elections. In section 15, subsection 5, it says that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office.
“When you find these corrupt practices, we have law enforcement agencies that should sanction such, but is that the narrative in Nigeria?
“Vote buying is a global concept and it’s been on for long.
“Australia introduced the secret ballot system as far back as 1856, just to checkmate vote buying,the UK in 1872, then America in 1892.
“We should be concerned about why politicians are desperate about vote buying and why electorates also are so gullible to sell their vote.
“It is not just about harvesting the voters identification number, there are different approaches, why are they desperate?
Mr Ologun noted that there were allegations of vote buying in the recent primaries, even in foreign currency.
“To what extent are we prepared to implement our laws? We have laws in the land that frown at these foul practices.”
According to him, as an average politician, you take nothing for granted.
“Some of the politicians are still bitter coming out of those primaries because calculations went wrong. Some also got their ticket out of desperation.
“If we have an environment where the succession plan is reliable, then we may not have all this.
“When we have a political environment where it’s not for enriching the politicians, for serving the people, we may not have issues like this.
He added that INEC has a responsibility to monitor the expenditure of the political parties, examine their books,and publish the reports to the world.
“But We are in a situation where you are asking the cat to monitor the affairs of the tiger.
“What we see the key players flouting the laws, the provisions of the electoral act and if there are no consequences, then how do you make the laws effective?
“By and large, I think the desperation we have in that environment may be tied to the fact that it has become a high yield sector of financial gains.
On dealing with the psyche of Nigerians who want to sell their votes, Mr Ologun said poverty is a very strong weapon as we are in a situation where a bag of rice is now 50,000 naira and we are talking of electorates who have been adjusted to appreciate stomach infrastructure.
“Some will surrender their votes for just 3000 naira.
“One of the responsibilities of INEC is to orientate the people. But in orientation, the people also have to be of sound mind.
“Poverty distorts the mind of a human being. About 153,000 million Nigerians have been reported to be living in multi dimensional, dimensional poverty.
“So for some, this is a harvest of prosperity.
” You see different kinds of things flying around now and they were obvious during the primaries.
“So we have a culture of manipulation right now, except we want to deny it,” Mr. Ologun added.
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