According to some analysts, Vote-buying, otherwise known as “voters-inducement, electoral treating, vote-trading, vote-selling or money exchange in politics has become a recurring feature in most countries’ electoral process including Nigeria where it was witnessed recently during the Ekiti Governorship election.
Vote buying is a widespread phenomenon. It is usually viewed as a purely economic exchange in which the voter sells his or her vote to the highest bidder.
Many scholars viewed vote buying as a simple economic transaction: parties and candidates distribute material benefits to individual citizens in exchange for support at the ballot box.
Our correspondent sampled the opinions of people who examined vote buying from the perspective of both candidates and voters and how it would be eradicated.
Speaking on how to eradicate vote buying in the Nigerian electoral system, the Managing Director Ga’ate Farms in Kokona Local government area, Mr Tedheke Retson, opined that government particularly the politicians need to create ways of alleviating the plights of the masses before vote buying can be eradicated.
According to him, Ga’ate Farm under his watch has done its best to provide job opportunities to the unemployed people in the society, saying that if such will be replicated by the government and individuals, the issue of vote buying will be a thing of the past.
Mr. Dominic apaseur a veteran journalist corroborated Tedheke Retson position, describing vote buying as an act of selling the birthright of an individual, and attributed it to poverty and literacy thus, advocating the need for relevant authorities to rise up of their responsibility to arrest the ugly situation by providing job opportunity to the teeming unemployed youths in the society.
It is hoped that the act of vote buying would be over when government profers solution to mitigate the menace.
Analysts…
