POLITICAL NOTES
The last few days of the nomination process by aspirants of all the political parties in the country, has witnessed an unprecedented abuse of the existential lacuna in the nation’s electoral system – the monetisation of delegate nomination process.
For the life of the nation, the sort of money heard and seen to have exchanged hands between politicians seeking elective offices and delegates in whose hands their fate lies, is incredible.
Unfortunately, the crass indiscretion exhibited by the obviously inane members of the National Assembly in the amendment of Section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, has played a big role in the mess the nomination process has become.
To think that not one member of the National Assembly – both the Senate and the House of Representatives – saw this electoral trap, which encumbered them, says a lot about the quality of persons in the federal legislature, and how they’re often driven by personal motivation as against collective interest.
Thus, for the mess that this year’s primary elections have become in all the political parties, especially, the two big ones, typifies a shame of the nation. While it is arguable that vote-buying is not alien to the nation’s electoral culture, much as there have always been campaigns against it, the show put up this year is beyond comprehension, let alone redemption.
Nonetheless, the nation’s electoral umpire, INEC, has a lot to do regulating some of these stages in the electoral process.
Although the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said recently that they had intimated both the EFCC and the ICPC, they need to take step further in terms of enforcement, because at the end of the day, these corrupt choices impact poorly on the entire process and by extension, the reliability of the electoral commission.
