Abuja
The United Progressive Party (UPP) said it has been vindicated by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration that the Anambra Governorship Election was characterised by massive vote buying.
The party had following the election last November observed that the exercise was noted for voted buying especially by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It had alleged that these parties that set up shops at virtually all the polling units to bid for and buy votes from electorate, some of who were convinced that they would never get good governance from any of them once the election was over.
INEC chairman, Professor Mahamood Yakubu over the weekend decried open votes buying at polling stations, lamenting that “Votes of citizens should be determine by who wins in an election. Our democracy must never be on sale in an open market.
“It is the will of the people that should determine who wins,” and seeks Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collaboration to address this and also monitor campaign funds.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu decried open votes buying at polling stations, lamenting that “Votes of citizens should be determine by who wins in an election. Our democracy must never be on sale in an open market. It is the will of the people that should determine who wins,” and seeks Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collaboration to address this and also monitor campaign funds”, the party said.
According to a release signed by the UPP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Ogbuehi Dike, the Party noted that the difference in votes won by these three parties was in their individual capacity to out-bid one another at different places as the highest bidder always wins in such bazaar.
It recalled that its chairman, Chief Dr. Chekwas Okorie, had during a post election press conference on the sham called Anambra Governorship Election on 22nd November, 2017 in Abuja, said, “The implication of this unfortunate development is that politicians will consider it wasteful and unnecessary to promote their parties manifestoes and canvass their blueprints for governance “If this is allowed to gain root, then criminals, money launderers, treasury looters and their likes will take over the political space, occupy juicy elective and appointive offices in Nigeria from the next democratic encounter in 2019.
In that way, democracy in Nigeria will definitely assume a new and ridiculous definition. Nigeria will be ruined.”
