In the wake of the recently concluded governorship election in Edo State, Labour Party candidate Olumide Akpata has expressed his profound disappointment over the level of vote buying that marred the process.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Akpata described the exercise not as an election but as a “transaction,” condemning the brazen nature of vote buying across the state.
He emphasised that the problem of vote buying was not just on the side of the buyers, but also on the sellers, adding that many voters were complicit in the unethical practice.
He pointed out that in some polling units, voters were clamoring for higher payments, comparing what was offered at their units to the sums being distributed elsewhere.
“With regards to the election that was held on Saturday, one was also taken aback by the level of vote buying that took place on Saturday openly, in such a brazen manner all across the state. That is why I say I was not an election; it was a transaction. It is so unfortunate because it was a willing seller and a willing buyer situation.
“I am not going to just apportion blame to only those who were buying. The people seemed very ready to sell their votes or wanted to be compensated for voting. It was quite tragic. There was a particular polling unit that the people were agitating to be paid as much as others were paying in other units. So, for me, that is one thing that one must really examine.”
Even though he acknowledged some shortcomings on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akpata also highlighted a larger societal issue, accusing the electorate of embracing their “captors,” using the term “Stockholm syndrome” to describe the relationship between the voters and the major political parties—APC and PDP—that were allegedly buying votes.
“Yes, I think INEC got it wrong in certain circumstances but one cannot run away from the fact that the people themselves have decided to embrace their captors. They have decided to embrace the two political parties who could offer them money for their votes.
“What do you do when a captive has fallen in love with a captor? That is Stockholm syndrome and that is the only way I can surmise this.”
The Labour Party candidate also shared details about the extent of the vote buying, revealing that in some areas, votes were sold for as much as thirty thousand naira per person.
“It will interest you to know that votes were sold for as high as thirty thousand naira in some places. In Nigeria of today, that is a lot of money for some people. That is enough for them to walk away from a party that they believe in but is only offering a promise of a better tomorrow. The people chose their captors, not necessarily because they prefer their captors but because of what is in the hand of their captors.”
He admitted that the Labour Party, from the outset, was disadvantaged in the contest, as they were unable to compete with the financial muscle of the PDP and APC.
“It was clear from earlier in the day that labour party was out of this contest because the rules of the game was such that you have to come to the table with a lot of cash, cash that we do not have and cash that even if we have, we are not inclined to spend money to buy votes. So, we were out of the contest from very early on in the day and it now became a contest between both parties, the PDP and the APC, who could pay more and so I have little or no sympathy for the PDP who complained today about the process because they were simply out-bidded. It was a commercial transaction essentially. Other things that may have happened in the cause of the day happened on this faulty foundation of vote buying. It was the same story across the board.”
Chioma Kalu
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