The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC, expressed concern on Wednesday about the practice of vote buying to compromise electorates ahead of the Osun governorship election on July 16, 2023.
In an interview with Vanguard, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of CISLAC, branded it as a new normal created to undermine the democratic process by dishonest politicians who do not care about Nigerians.
Rafsanjani defined the new threat to the electoral system as voter distrust.
He said: “While voting constitutes a formal citizenry decision-making process by which a population chooses a credible individual to hold public office, it is, however, disturbing that citizens’ choices and decisions were largely influenced and determined by high incidences of vote-buying facilitated by politicians, hoodlums and party agents.
“Vote buying is a symptom of a deeper problem of poor integrity in the electoral processes. It is worrisome that financial enticement has hitherto dominated Nigeria’s politics.
“Vote-buying influences voter’s choice from making appropriate or well-informed electoral decisions, which without doubt determines the integrity and quality of outcome from an election.
“The outcome to large extent shapes the performance of the nation’s socio-economic institutions and grossly the citizenry standards of living and well-being.”
According to him, Nigerian political campaigns have hitherto exacerbated corrupt practice and economic mismanagement that permeate the public sector with political candidates diverting public treasuries to fund campaign activities.
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“It has become a case of the ‘highest bidder’ emerges the winner.
“Voting buying unnecessarily amplifies the cost of elections for parties and candidates, and might eventually prevent credible candidates from running for political office.
“This breeds distrust among voters, who feel disenfranchised by a corrupted system that fails to adhere to democratic ideals. It is an unethical practice to the fundamental values and teachings of democracy and the global standards”, he said.
However, on how to eliminate the rise trend of vote buying, the CISLAC boss counseled that, “Before and after the elections, all relevant stakeholders must demand fully implemented sanctions against illegal funding and financial transgressions, including imprisonment, or de-registration of erring candidate or political party to discourage the growing money politics, vote buying, and unchecked campaign funding, and overbearing party finance.”
He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and other anti-grafts agencies to swoop on and seriously deal with perpetrators of the heinous crime.
“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and other anti-graft agencies must uphold the nation’s electoral integrity by strengthening and extending their mandates to prosecute cases of vote-buying, vote-trading and money politics.
“This includes an independent judicial system that correctly interprets vote buying as a financial crime with appropriate sanctions.
“The electorates have the fundamental mandates to demand total transparency in political campaign financing and expenditure.
“Voter education and wider civil education must be conducted with a long term view to widening voters’ horizons on how vote-trading is linked to things that happen in their lives or may happen in the future.
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“This includes targeted community sensitisation on the negative consequences of vote-buying and the adverse effects of vote-trading on public/community services”, he said.
He also pointed that, “Secret balloting system must be fully institutionalised and practically demonstrated for electoral integrity.
“Civil Society groups, the media and all well-meaning stakeholders must discourage vote-buying by encouraging citizens to demand strict compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act in electoral financing.”
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