The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for indulging in vote-buying during last week’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
Adebayo, who said he was in the state to monitor the exercise, revealed that the APC and PDP induced voters with bribes to the tune of N15,000 and N10,000 respectively.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared APC’s Biodun Oyebanji winner ahead of the SDP’s Segun Oni.
The exercise was adjudged to have been blighted by multiple cases of vote-buying, a development that the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union among other international observers condemned.
The SDP through its national chairman, Shehu Musa Gabam, rejected the outcome, lamenting that the country’s democracy is under threat as politicians have reduced citizens to commodities that could be bought.
Taking to his Twitter account on Thursday, Adebayo said the entire exercise is a loss to Nigeria “because the soul of our nation is sold”.
“BECAUSE I WAS IN EKITI, I saw the crimes of bribery known as vote buying. It is a grim danger to our democracy. It debases the voter buyer and dehumanizes the vote seller.@OfficialAPCNg peaked at N15k while @OfficialPDPNig peaked at N10K per vote. It changed the result. We lost,” he wrote.
“It is not because my party SDP lost that worries me. It is that Nigeria lost because the soul of our nation is sold. @inecnigeria lost because its officials exposed voting booths to allow the buying to be enforced, @PoliceNG lost because its officers were sometimes middlemen.
“Youths lost because their #Sorosoke and other sloganeering about getting PVCs did not open minds or pierce hearts as many youths were not mere passive or reluctant sellers, but active bargainers fixing prices and haggling. These were not mere victims but intentional vote traders
“Women lost because many of the cashiers for @OfficialAPCNg and @OfficialPDPNig were women wearing pouches of illicit cash like street drug mulls selling cracks in the hoods. Trado-institutions lost because holy palace grounds were not spared from being desecrated as cash points”.
Adebayo, however, urged Nigerians to learn from the Ekiti elections and avoid a repeat in subsequent polls.
He concluded, “We must learn the lessons of Ekiti. We must prevent the same crimes in Osun guber election.We must undertake criminal prosecutions now and we must save 2023 elections from being reduced to buying and selling.@OfficialAPCNg and @OfficialPDPNig cannot be allowed to auction Nigeria”.
