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2023: Nigerians In Diaspora Caution Youths Against Vote Buying

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PARTICIPANTS at a virtual youth summit organised by the Nigerian Diaspora Organisation Americas (NIDOA) and the Nigeria Diaspora Network (NDN) have called on the eligible young voters to desist from vote buying in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

The groups said exchanging votes for money from politicians is tantamount to mortgaging their future.

Some of the panellists who spoke at the 2nd edition of the zoom meeting of the organisations on Saturday night said that the act had done more harm than good in the country’s political system.

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The Chief Executive Officer of IIIimite Access, Mrs Kemi Roland, described the issue of vote buying as “a hydra-headed problem and a vicious circle.”

According to her, it is the citizens themselves that can decide to liberate themselves, by saying enough is enough.

“Many of the politicians spend money, give voters money to get into office. And of course, anybody spending money to get into office sees it as an investment that must be recouped.

“Therefore, every single time voters collect money from a politician, it means they are mortgaging their future.

“The voters are simply saying that you (politicians) can go away with our roads, you can pocket it; you can go away with our healthcare, you can pocket it, etc.

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Roland, who contested for a House Assembly seat on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019 in Kogi but lost at the primaries, said voters need to be continuously educated on the need to refrain from voting buying.

“Unfortunately, citizens in Nigeria have been dehumanised so badly for so many years that it is going to take a lot of time to get this done.

“But I believe it can be done and until that is done, we may never see any difference in our political landscape.

“So we need to continue to educate voters that they are the ones that can break this vicious cycle,” she said.

On his own part another speaker. Comrade Abdulrahman Bapullo, Chairman, Nigerian Youth Congress, Adamwa, frowned at the increasing rate of vote buying in the country’s electioneering process.

He also expressed concern about the negative effect of money politics in Nigerian democracy.

He said he was a victim of money politics and godfatherism when he vied for a seat in the Adamawa State House of Assembly election in 2019 but could not get the ticket.

He said to fight against money politics, people with good intentions for Nigeria must be ready to get involved in the political process.

He urged Nigerians to get involved more in political parties’ activities and stop corrupt politicians from causing more damage to the system.

Roland noted that moneybags would always try to frustrate people with good intentions of getting into power for their selfish interests.

“Our problem in Nigeria today is the party system; internal democracy is one of our major problems that is stopping the country from providing the best of leaders that will take the country forward.

“If people that know how to make policies, people that are intelligent, people that have solutions, if they can join the party system, especially young people, it will be a welcomed development,” He said.

“The fundamental problem we are having in Nigeria today is the party system where someone that has not even gone to a secondary school is the one that will choose a leader for you. What does he know about the development?

“So we need people that are deserving, people that are not sycophants to join the party system because that is where the decision of choosing those leaders is.

“We need people; people in the Diaspora that desire for change. If they can come back to the country.

“Those are the people we need in the system and that is the only way we can remove money politics in the system.

“if not, people that have money will continue to rule this country, even if they don’t have anything to offer,” Bapullo said.

A legal practitioner, Mrs Kesi Seun-Adedamola, however, called on the youths to be active in politics for better development.

“We’ve got to take it, it’s not going to come to us easily. Have you seen anyone that wants to give up power? The youths have to say it is our turn.” We need to talk less and do more; we have to demand what we want, not just interacting on Twitter,” she said.

According to Seun-Adedamola, the reality is different from what we talk about on Twitter.

“Look, every change was done by people that demanded more. We need the experience, we need people that are knowledgeable,” she said.

The Chairman, NIDOA/NDN Planning Committee, Mr Sam Atolaiye, said the essence of the summit was to bring all Nigerian youth together, motivate them, get them involved and give them a sense of direction to drive transformational impact and positive change in the country.

“Let us ensure we vote right. Let us ask politicians questions about how they want to change things for the better and how this will be done.

“Let us vote based on their ( the politicians’) credibility and not on the amount of money they have,” he said.

The summit was  organised by NIDOA and NDN and was titled: “The Future of Nigeria: Your Vote and Your Right.”

While NIDOA’s mission is to promote the spirit of patriotism, networking and cooperation among Nigerians in Diaspora, for their individual and collective success in the countries they reside, NDN is an organisation for volunteer professionals of like mind working with accomplished patriotic Nigerian professionals striving for the development of the country.

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