Vote-buying won’t threaten 2019 – Dansadau

National Rescue Movement, national chairman, Senator Saidu Dansadau, has allayed fears that vote buying witnessed during the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections on the 14th of July will not pose any threat to the 2019 general elections.
The NRM chairman said the resort to money politics and voter inducement in Ekiti was only possible because the political parties involved in the immorality were only dealing with a single state.
The former Senator expressed confidence that it would be difficult for the political parties that indulged in the act to sustain it as they would be dealing with all states of the federation including the FCT during the general elections.
“Vote buying may have become a trend as seen in the election exercises in Anambra, Ondo and the recent experience in Ekiti Sttae.
But that was possible because the perpetrators were dealing with one state at a time.
“In the 2019 general elections, the conduct of the elections will be done in all the states of the federation, now tell me which party can afford to spend the kind of money the parties were said to have spent on buying votes and inducing the electorate? No, it was possible in one state but will certainly be quite a task for any political party to commit the kind of money they did in Ekiti State across board in the general elections”, he said.
According to him, vote buying, which was hugely deployed by major political parties in the Ekiti State and had dominated discussions, was clear manifestation of lack of rule of law and good governance.
“People have seen the danger of vote buying and money politics, it means the political parties buying votes have nothing to offer the electorate.
Of course, the electorate have seen through them, don’t trust them and are only waiting for a more credible platform to offer their mandate to take the mantle of leadership.
“That platform is what the NRM represents.
The only to curb vote buying and inducement of the electorate is to play politics of ideology.
Politics has a business enterprise is what has brought Nigeria on its knees and we in the NRM will fight against it”, he said.
It would be recalled that the INEC had openly admitted that major political parties bought votes even stating the trend has been developed into an act.
The commission said it was helpless because the parties have developed a system that it possible for them to operate above the law