Resident Electoral Commissioner for Rivers State Obo Effanga has said the disturbing development where most Nigerian politicians are now engaging in wanton vote buying is evidence that the nation’s electoral process has been strengthened to ensure that every legitimate vote counts.
Effanga was recently reappointed as the state commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State. He made the remarks as the guest speaker at the Zenith Environmental and Social Protection Network (ZESPRONET) 2022 fundraising dinner held on Saturday in Abuja.
“Politicians now buy votes means votes are important and they can only win on the basis of the votes. And it’s because the votes are counting and people are emerging on the basis of the votes that’s why politicians are going after the votes by whatever means,” Effanga said, adding that “they (politicians) have found out that perhaps the easiest means for them to get the votes is to pay the people to pay for them.
He said on the part of INEC, the interest is that anybody who is qualified to vote is given an unfettered access to vote. “And when the person has voted, the vote is counted and the polls are declared on the basis of the counted votes,” he told the gathering at Ibeto Hotel in Abuja at the weekened. “The issue of vote-buying has become a national problem.”
Asked what should be done, he said it is the responsibility of everyone in Nigeria who is interested in strengthening democracy to ensure that we reduce the incidence of vote buying. He said that can be done through strategic communication on awareness creation, focused on discouraging the electorates about selling their votes.
Effanga who said conduct of regular elections is the hallmark of democracy, claim that Nigerian elites had given it up that state independent electoral commissions are not supposed to be independent, a reason most local government area elections are always manipulated in favour of the ruling party.
The INEC commissioner also mentioned that massive incidence of multiple registrations was denying the nation a good number of voters. He said many people are disqualified from voting because of multiple voter registration.
