President Muhammadu Buhari has been beckoned on by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to “urgently direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to identify and arrest politicians who are allegedly buying permanent voter cards (PVCs) from poor Nigerians, and promptly bring them to justice.”
The group also urged him to “ensure that the politicians and their sponsors who are suspected to be involved in these grave electoral and human rights crimes are named and shamed, regardless of their political affiliations.”
Bring to mind that, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)had recently alleged that some politicians are buying PVCs from poor Nigerians across the country. The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has corroborated the allegations, reportedly stating that some politicians are buying PVCs with N2,000 in the north.
In a letter signed by the deputy director of SERAP, Kolawole Oluwadare,the group stated that; “Buying of PVCs from poor Nigerians is a threat to fair and representative elections, as it amounts to vote buying, undue influence and improper electoral influence.
“The allegations that politicians and their sponsors are buying PVCs from poor Nigerians are grave violations of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act, and the country’s international anti-corruption and human rights obligations.”
As stated by the group,“The right to vote is central to the enjoyment of other basic human rights but the right will have little meaning if politicians and their sponsors continue to buy PVCs and get away with their crime against the Nigerian people.”
The letter, read in part: “We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”
“No body politic worthy of being called a democracy entrusts the selection of leaders to a process of auction or barter. Inducing poor Nigerians to sell their PVCs intrudes on their freedom to make up their own minds.”
“The buying of PVCs from poor Nigerians and the resulting deprivation of the right to participation would completely compromise the legitimacy of representative government.”
“Investigating, identifying, naming and shaming those suspected to be involved in these criminal acts of vote-buying and undue influence, and bringing them to justice would promote the people’s right to vote, and public trust and confidence in the electoral process.”
(Openlife Nigeria)
