VOTE MERCHANDIZE IN NIGERIAN ELECTIONS MUST STOP NOW!

ZION B-BC   NEWSLETTER.  

(Looking at Nigeria's Political System from a godly Perspective).

A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 6. NO 225. 3rd December, 2017.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You   Free! (John.8:32).

VOTE MERCHANDIZE IN NIGERIAN ELECTIONS MUST STOP NOW!

An on-going trend of electoral fraud in Nigerian politics is VOTE SELLING and no stakeholder is denying the anomaly!
Prior to this development, there was general VOTER APATHY, caused through disenchantment of the ELECTORATE, who felt short-changed in the electoral process that yielded them no concrete manifestation of socio-economic dividends! 
It is common knowledge that most Nigerian Politicians/Political Parties usually turned their backs on the VOTERS and never kept promises contained in their manifestoes once they got the mandate of leadership and authority; an attitude which informed the boycott of most Local, States and National Elections in recent times.
In the past decade, 2007-2017, there had been a decline in the percentage of the voting pattern because of the threat to lives and properties by politicians who believed that politicking was a "do-or-die affair" and had introduced brigandage and thuggery, in which dangerous weapons were freely employed to scare credible voters away from polling booths and make way for their cronies to perpetrate ballot box snatching and vote rigging! But surprisingly, the recently concluded ANAMBRA GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION, of Saturday, 18th November, 2017, did not witness any recorded violence in spite of the assumption that the entire South East Geo-Political Zone was a haven of arms proliferation. Instead, the witty politicians employed the VOTE BUYING SYSTEM (VBS), in which PERMANENT VOTERS CARDS (PVCs), rights were exchanged for as little as five thousand naira with oath-invocation, while the deal was monitored by eagle-eye party agents who ensured that their party's logos were thumb-printed on the ballot papers.

ANAMBRA STATE did not pioneer the VBS. During the 2015 Presidential and General Elections, ILLICIT BANKING HALLS moved to all States of the Federation and monies (INCLUDING THE US $2.1 BILLION DOLLARS, APPOPRIATED TO PROSECUTE THE WAR AGAINST BOKO HARAM), allegedly exchanged hands due to the desperation of the ruling political class which was determined to keep STATUS QUO and CONTINUITY!
This trend moved to EDO (September 10, 2016) and ONDO (November 26 ,2016),  Governorship Elections where PVCs were monetized with tacit support from some law enforcement agents without scruples in the full glare of electronic, print/social media videos and without any form of petitions until after announcement of results which did not favour those who LOST!

During the Anambra Elections which saw the incumbent Governor, Willy Obiano, retain his seat in a landslide victory over 36 OTHER CONTESTANTS, an All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), agent was arrested by Department of State Security (DSS), Operatives with a sum of N 300.000 Naira in his possession at a polling booth, taking into official custody, but was released few hours later with the said amount still in his possesion in spite of the fact that it was an infraction of the extant electoral law which forbids such large amount of money from being brought into the premises of any Polling Centre.

WHY THE ELECTORATE MUST VOTE!
The right to suffrage is both universal and inalienable in every democratic dispensation for the purpose of choice of candidates during elections and also for creating sure platforms for taking critical decisions in nation building, good governance and resolution of political, economic, social, or even conflict issues.
Voting is not only the soul of democracy but its heart and spirit because political victory depends on who had the highest numbers, therefore, the majority must be a people of godly conscience!  When a qualified citizen shuns voting at elections for whatever reason(s), he/she, is the loser and not the system, because there is no place for vacuum in governance!
For instance, when some miscreants threatened and intimidated "ANAMBRIANS" to shun the recently concluded governorship elections, and only about ONE THIRD of the registered voters participated, Willy Obiano was not robbed of his electoral victory!
Also in Kenya, East Africa, where Raila Odinga, instructed his Party faithfuls to boycott the 26th October, 2017, re-run presidential elections because he no longer had confidence in the Electoral Umpires and the entire political process, his beclouded judgement did not stop other Electorate from exercising their franchise which coasted the incumbent, President Uhuru Kenyatta, into a second term landslide victory of 98% with only 38% Electorate turnout!

WHY WOULD SOME ELECTORATE TRADE THEIR PVCs FOR PEA NUTS?
Can one safely put the blame of Vote Selling at the door steps of disillusioned, poverty- stricken, hungry, jobless and seemingly hopeless TALAKAWAS in all the geo-political zones, who eek their living through menial vocational engagements or the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for dereliction of duty in the area of VOTER EDUCATION, which is one of their primary assignments? OR: The National Orientation Agency (NOA), which should promote PATRIOTIC/NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, OR: the multitude 57 Political Parties, OR: The ACADEMIA/STUDENT UNIONS for this failure?

Who should be held responsible for the decadence being witnessed in the organisation and controversial results/outcomes of virtually all elections ever conducted by past and present electoral umpires in Nigeria? International best practice dictates that it is the fundamental duty and primary responsibility of a sincere government and its election management team to educate citizens on all aspects of voting including their civic duties on election days but where there was deliberate plan to disenfranchise the citizens, Non-Governmental Organisations, (NGOs), Civil Society Groups, (CSGs), LABOUR/TRADE UNIONS, MUST SPEEDILY INTERVENE TO DEFEND THE MASSES WHO WERE ALWAYS EXPOSED TO SUCH UNPATRIOTIC AND CRUEL MANIPULATIONS!

We need not emphasize that to ensure democratic and successful elections, voters needed to be sufficiently knowledgeable and well-informed of the electoral process of how to identify credible politicians and political parties by digging into their ideologies, manifestoes and most importantly, whether they could be prone to aggression, thuggery, unruly/cantankerous attitudes, mud-slinging, HATE SPEECHES etc, by probing into their antecedents and pedigrees!
Most Nigerian politicians believe in the power of MONEY to buy off both the Electorate and their Votes and believe that only the MONEYBAGS (not even intelligent POOR), would rule the nation forever!
On Friday, 1st December 2017, one PDP member and ex-Federal Minister of Works, of the inglorious Obasanjo Administration, Mr. Adeseye Ogunlewe, whose godfather is Chief 'Bode George, spoke the mind of his party on CHANNELS TELEVISION'S POLITICS TODAY Programme, with so much passion against the POOR in this manner: "Poor people have no business in politics! Nigerian politics is not meant for poor people. ... where would they get money to organize campaigns, print posters, mobilize agents etc?" AND PDP WANTS TO SEIZE POWER AT ALL COST IN 2019 WITH THEIR ILLICIT LOOTS OF 1999-2015!
Can anyone further doubt the GENESIS of VOTE BUYING AND SELLING?

APC CHANGE ADMINISTRATION SHOULD RESCUE NIGERIA FROM MONEY BAGS NOW!
It is most imperative now for the APC Change Government to embark on modern creative approaches of information dissemination through educative electoral posters, leaflets, hand-bills, tracts, including audio/video, - radio jingles, songs, comic strips on television and the social media for public awareness, from cities to the grassroots, in local languages and dialects for the ELECTORATE TO BE WELL-INFORMED TO VOTE WISELY!

INEC must be adequately funded to devote more attention to Civic/Voter Education and also to address complaints by some political parties which accuse the Agency of not providing a level playing field for all stakeholders except the few BIG PARTIES!
THE NIGERIAN POLICE and other security agents must always assure the Electorate of credibility of their votes by ensuring that all forms of electoral malpractices are investigated, prosecuted and that culprits are sent to jail to serve as deterrent!

THE GAINS OF CREDIBLE ELECTORAL SYSTEM?
The global norm is that democratic governments MUST ensure that all eligible citizens exercise their franchise to vote and elect representatives of their choice for their voices to be identified in the process of establishing good governance. Dis-enfranchisement of citizens through any group of people or deliberate voting apathy by the electorate for any reason or excuse, is ANATHEMA to democracy because such unpatriotic attitude would always provide opportunity for poorly-educated and jobless persons of the society to occupy political offices UNPREPARED, and make unpleasant decisions for the majority of the citizens as evident in the Nigerian political arena since 1999 to date!

AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST! YOUR VOTE IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT! YOU MUST NOT WAGER IT FOR THE BIBLICAL CAIN'S RED PORTAGE! (Genesis.25: 29-34).        

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to:  facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch.

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390.  08080243066. g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com.