Obi raises concerns over vote buying in Nigeria elections

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, has decried vote buying in Nigeria’s elections.

Obi, speaking to journalists after voting at polling unit 019Umudim Akasi Agulu in Anoma Local Government Area of Anambra State, said that his personal experience is that democracy is deteriorating in the country.

“Unfortunately, those who are the victims of bad governance seem to be fueling it. I have been able to listen to people around on what is happening today, what you see is that vote buying is on the scale of N20,000, N30,000.

“The question I ask is if you sell your vote for N30,000, what is he going to be paid next month. But selling your votes, you’re selling no school, no hospital, no Job; you’re selling away your future, and that is what is worrisome.

Read also: Anambra poll: Agents disrupting voting in part of Anambra East over vote buying

He continued, “Other countries, even West African countries that are close to us, where I have observed elections, I didn’t see this happen. So you people who are journalists, you must cooperate to save the situation”, he appealed.

On where his support lies in the Anambra governorship election, Obi said, “I’m a member of LP and I support the LP candidate, but quite frankly, everybody involved in this election is my brother and sisters.

‘Im not in the ballot, I was Governor 13 years ago, so I’m strictly in Champions League of Nigerian politics, I’m contesting to be president of Nigeria. For people who are in the 1st Division, I wish them well. I hope they will do very well. Whoever wins, let him serve the people.

Nigeria needs service men, we need to pull our people out of poverty, our people need to know that schools are working, it’s not grandstanding, we need to rebuild the hospitals, that’s why we are supporting Nursing Schools to be able to produce the man power that is required for every village to have a primary healthcare where people can go to.

On INEC, he congratulated the new INEC chairman and told him to look at what happened to his predecessors. “All I can say to him is that the name and reputation his children will live with is a test for him in office. So while you’re there, try to serve humanity and society,” he said.