By Jannamike Luminous, Abuja
The Deputy President of Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege; the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; and his colleaques in the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, among other stakeholders in Nigeria’s electoral process have blamed weak sanctions and poverty for derailing the fight against vote buying and selling in the country.
They raised the concern at a policy dialogue on ‘Addressing Vote Trading in Nigeria from Global Comparative Experiences’ organised by The Electoral Forum in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and MacArthur Foundation.
According to Agege, vote trading is an unusual democratic experience, which serves as a clog in the wheel of free choice and democracy.
The DSP, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Otive Igbuzor called for stronger punitive sanctions against perpetrators as well as sustained information campaigns, community action and locally enforceable public commitments to collectively fight the menace.
“To stem this behaviour, everyone should be involved, both voters and contestants. It needs sustained information campaigns, community action and locally. enforceable public commitments to collectively shun vote-buying.