Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Former Minister of Youths and Sports Development and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has expressed concern over the extreme monetisation of politics and political process.
He, however said such ugly situation posed a threat to the nation’s democracy.
Delivering a lecture, titled, ‘Re-engaging the Media for Credible Democracy,’ at the 2022 annual press week celebration of the Correspondents’ Chapel of Kwara State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ilorin yesterday, Abdulahi said politicians had nearly turned political process into a business transaction.
Abdulahi who is also Kwara Central senatorial candidate of PDP for the 2023 elections said the development had brought out all manner of people canvassing for elective offices, added that it was capable of making electorate poorer and miserable in the long run.
He said, “When politicians pay people to vote for them, the act has taken away capability of the people to decide who govern them.
“And I think it is the same as soldiers using gun to be in power and politicians using power of dollars to be in power.”
Abdullahi, a former editor of THISDAY newspaper while commenting on the trend of vote buying said, “in a country where the median monthly income is N11,500.00, where people are living for the next day or the next week, it would remain difficult to merely preach that people should not sell their votes.
“Crushed under paralysing poverty, it is impossible for the people to organise themselves and challenge the power equation, which simply remains weighed in favour of the political elite.”
Abdullahi also castigated the media for falling under the current challenge, saying “the media is operated by human beings, who also have bills to pay. In addition,however journalists as civil society actors faced another peculiar challenge.
“It is quite ironic to observe that the media appeared to be more robust and more militant under military dictatorship than we have since the enthronement of democracy. This is easy to explain though.
“Military dictatorship, by its own very illegitimacy makes legitimate every means that may be employed for its overthrow. Conversely, democratic government no matter how poorly constituted or operated, determines any means for its overthrow outside the only method legitimised by the constitution, which is through electoral process, no matter how bankrupt that process may be,” he added.
Abdulahi, who said that the quality of journalism in the country was a reflection of the nation’s democracy, added, however, that journalism should be able to deepen the nation’s democracy.
“Journalists should be able play constitutional roles as enshrined in the nation’s Constitution. That is, media practitioners should be able to hold government accountable for adequate provision of education, job opportunity, security, corrupt practices and abuse of power,” he added.
