The Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, has suggested a life ban for any politician or political parties guilty of vote buying.
According to some news reports, incidents of vote-buying and selling marred the recent governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states.
“Vote buying has become a problem and it will have huge implications if we don’t stop it now,” Igini told Channels TV.
“The first implication of vote buying is that is going to remove performance politics because the opportunity is that when an incumbent has performed, in the next election he should be rewarded on account of performance. But if vote buying is not dealt with right away, there will be no performance anymore because all you need do is to keep money somewhere to buy vote.
“Secondly, vote buying if not stopped, reinforces inequality in the society because it would be the case of only the rich and the wealthy. It will also lead to what is called class bias policies. When you allow vote buying to thrive, you are going to flood the society with inequality of public franchise.”
