Amanze ChinonyeThe Obidient Movement has condemned the recently concluded by-elections, describing the process as a “cash-and-carry democracy” where votes were openly exchanged for money.
In a statement issued by the group’s National Coordinator, Dr. Yanusa Tanko, he expressed concern that many Nigerians continue to sell their votes while expecting good governance in return.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“The by-elections have come and gone, yet the painful reality remains that many Nigerians still sell their votes while somehow expecting good governance in return,” Tanko said. “Once again, our democracy was reduced to a cash-and-carry affair an open market where stolen public wealth is freely deployed to buy silence and compromise the will of the people.”
Tanko warned that unless citizens collectively reject vote selling and demand accountability, corrupt politicians would continue to dominate the system without fear of consequences. He noted that vote buying undermines democratic processes and sustains a cycle of misrule.
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Citing Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Tanko said politicians who buy votes are only “buying their way into the treasury to steal public money,” stressing that they are no better than armed robbers or kidnappers because “they are committing the same evil in different forms.”
He added that those who sell votes are, in effect, mortgaging their own future by trading away basic services such as schools, hospitals, and roads. “The message is clear: we are mortgaging the future of our children, who are already living with unemployment and hunger. If we keep trading our votes for peanuts, we will soon have no country to call our own,” the statement read.
The Obidient Movement urged Nigerians to resist inducements in future polls, insisting that credible leadership cannot emerge from what it called “an auction block democracy.” The group emphasized that the consequences of vote selling extend beyond the ballot box affecting schools, hospitals, roads, and the overall quality of life. Unless Nigerians reject vote buying, the cycle of corruption will continue to determine who controls public resources, directly shaping the opportunities, services, and future of every citizen.
The group’s comments contribute to the broader debate on electoral integrity in Nigeria, where vote buying has remained a recurring challenge despite repeated advocacy by civil society organizations for transparent and accountable elections.
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