By-elections: Obidient Movement Condemns Vote-Buying, Warns Against ‘Cash-and-Carry Elections’
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The Obidient Movement has strongly condemned the widespread practice of vote-buying witnessed during the recent by-elections, describing it as a dangerous trend that continues to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.
In a statement issued yesterday, National Coordinator of the movement, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, decried the manner in which elections have been reduced to a “cash-and-carry affair,” where stolen public wealth is freely deployed to compromise the will of the people.
According to Tanko, the persistent cycle of monetized elections poses a serious threat to good governance, accountability, and national development.
“Elections are not supposed to be an auction block for politicians who loot our national treasury. Until we collectively say no to vote selling and buying with demand for accountability, those who plunder our commonwealth will continue to rule us without fear of reprimand,” he stated.
He recalled the words of Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, who has consistently argued that those who buy votes are only buying their way into the treasury to steal public funds. Obi has likened vote buyers to killers, armed robbers, and kidnappers, stressing that they destroy the future of citizens by diverting resources meant for schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
Tanko also warned that voters who trade their ballots for money are complicit in selling off their children’s education, healthcare, and access to better opportunities.
“The message is clear: we are mortgaging the future of the children living with no jobs and hunger in the land. If we keep trading our votes for peanuts, we will have no country to call our own,” he lamented.
The Obidient Movement reiterated its call for a united stand against electoral corruption, insisting that Nigeria’s democratic survival depends on citizens rejecting inducements and holding leaders accountable.
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