Vote buying politicians will fight back but Nigerians choices will prevail

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said many politicians were unhappy with the current efforts by the commission and security agencies to fight vote buying during the 2023 poll.

The commission said though it harbours no illusion that it is going to be easy to root out the negative influence of money on the nation’s elections, it was determined to tackle it.

INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu stated this at a one-day stakeholders summit on addressing the influence of money in the 2023 general election.

The parley had in attendance representatives of security and anti-graft agencies, including members of Civil Society Organisations, Financial Institutions and the media.

Yakubu, noting that the Commission was ready for both covert and overt pressure, countervailing actions and even threats by these vested interests, urged citizens to reject inducements to sway their votes through vote buying

“We fully realise that today’s initiative will not go down well with people who may not be committed to the growth of our electoral system and the consolidation of our democracy. We expect them to fight back. There will be both covert and overt pressure, countervailing actions and even threats by these vested interests.

” I wish to reiterate that our loyalty is to Nigeria and our allegiance is to Nigerians. We are committed to working with the collaborating agencies to see that this initiative succeeds in the 2023 General Election and beyond”, the INEC boss said.

While stating the negative role of money in elections, Yakubu said the pernicious use of money tremendously increases the likelihood of election violence due to a “win at all costs” mentality among contestants who would have invested a fortune in the election.

The INEC chairman maintained that the election is not a business venture for profit but an application to serve the people with the understanding that they may prefer someone else on one occasion.

Insisting that citizens’ choices must never be subverted by the negative use of money, Yakubu said the ban on cell phones in voting cubicles is still in force.

He added that the use of the Bimodal Voter Registration System, BVAS, electronic transmission of results and public display of Polling Unit results through the IReV has come stay.

According to him, “with today’s initiative, the elimination of the negative use of money in our electoral process will be tackled head-on.

He added: “Many Nigerians have demanded to know from INEC what the Commission is doing about the deleterious influence of money in elections, particularly the diabolical purchase of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) from voters ahead of the election and vote buying at Polling Units on Election Day. Over the years, we introduced a number of measures, including the slight reconfiguration of our Polling Units to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles to discourage the exposure of the marked ballot papers by voters to vote buyers. We also banned the use of smartphones and photographic devices by voters in the voting cubicles. Yet, these measures have recorded limited success.

“Today, we commence yet another initiative to sanitise and strengthen our electoral process. We believe that in dealing with the corruption of our elections by money, the Commission cannot do it alone. To succeed, we must mobilise every relevant national institution to support our effort. We must rely on the professional and other capacities of cognate agencies in our determination to improve electoral administration in Nigeria.

“That is why we appreciate the collaboration with the Police, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the regulatory bodies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). We welcome the assurances of full collaboration, commitment and partnership of these agencies to credible elections based on their statutory responsibilities. We look forward to their initial ideas about how to deal with the problem when they address us shortly.

“The Commission is aware that legal provisions and the actions of the agencies are critical but will not be enough to completely root out the deep-seated cancer of corrupt money in our elections. The concerted actions of citizens are crucial. Citizens must reject inducements to sway their votes through vote buying.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, observed that apart from electoral violence, thuggery and snatching of ballot boxes, one key issue affecting the credibility of elections in Nigeria today is the use of money to try and tilt the outcome of the elections.

Baba, represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, Baba Ciroma warned that when elections are influenced by money, the credibility of the process is questioned, noting that “this leads to rancour and the possibility of violence after the elections”.

He said the police cannot rule out attempts to entice the political umpires’ security agents with money to influence the outcome of elections.

The IGP disclosed that during the even campaigns some political thugs have also been arrested and are being prosecuted in courts of competent jurisdiction.

He added: “We will also ensure that the police X-squad, intelligence officers and investigators are moved to the field to ensure that politicians moving on election days with tonnes of physical cash for vote buying are

apprehended and dealt with according to the provisions of the law.

“We have also deployed intelligence officers who will get embedded in the crowd during political rallies to identify with precision persons encouraging or perpetrating violence.

“Let me state again emphatically that the use of the money during the 2023 elections is unacceptable and we will do all we can within the confines of the law to bring offending persons to book.

“Therefore, all hands are on deck and all the relevant security agencies are in synergy on this. We intend to provide a conducive atmosphere for the conduct of the 2023 elections.

Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the commission has remained focused and committed to enhancing its preventive mandate by instituting measures targeted at safeguarding the system.

This according to Bawa, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Hadiza Zubairu Gamawa, included the prevention of vote buying and influence in electoral processes through covert and overt surveillance at polling units, investigation and prosecution of politicians who receive funds to influence election outcomes.

He said cases in point were the prosecution of certain politicians who received funds in order to influence the outcome of the 2015 elections.

Bawa maintained that though the electioneering process comes with huge spending in some instances proceeds of crime are laundered through the making of billboards, tv adverts, live shows, print media and so much more.

Bawa said:  In the same vein, the Commission had in 2019 deployed its operatives to polling units across the country to discourage the inducement of voters. Offenders were arrested, prosecuted and convicted. These efforts were also repeated at the Osun and Ekiti States elections as well as in the recently concluded election primaries of the political parties.

“While these demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to de-popularizing the use of funds to influence the electoral process, we also recognize the need for collaboration with other stakeholders”