Dogara describes FG’s cash disbursement as highest form of corruption

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has expressed worry over the distribution of cash to the public ahead of the 2019 general election.

Through its TraderMoni scheme, the federal government has been giving N10,000 loans to petty traders.

Speaking at public hearing on vote-buying organised by senate and house of representatives committees on electoral and political party matters, Dogara said the trend was worrisome.

He said no matter how noble the scheme may be, it is in contravention of section 124 of the electoral act.

“It is instructive to note that the electoral act anticipated and captured most forms of electoral fraud including inducement and vote buying. I hope we will have the courage at this event to address the distribution of cash to the public very close to general elections by public officials,” he said

“I am afraid that such endeavors no matter how noble the intentions behind them may fall within the all encompassing provisions of  S. 124 (1)(a); (b); (c); and S.(124)(2)(4)(5) and S. 130 of the electoral act.

“Although penalties are not stringent, there is also lack of political will to implement the laws as it is even if it were to offer feeble deterrence to violators. Arrest are hardly made and even where arrests are made, prosecutions are unheard of.

“A more worrisome dimension to vote buying is the alleged use of the officials of the electoral umpire, INEC, and officers of security agencies to induce, or intimidate and coerce voters to vote for particular candidates.

“Such absurdities have been widely reported in the media and confirmed by some local and international observers in respect of the recently concluded governorship elections in Osun state.  As expected, all lovers of democracy worldwide rose to condemn these despicable incidents.

“Condemnation is not enough, it will amount to hypocrisy, if we don’t take the bull by the horn by taking concrete steps to eliminate these evils that make mockery of our hard worn democracy.”

On his part, Senate President Bukola Saraki said the standard that has been set at the 2015 polls should not be lowered in 2019.

Saraki said the use of incident form to bypass the lawful process of accreditation and voting “is not good for the country.”

“We cannot afford to send the wrong signals with our actions or inaction as we prepare for the next elections. The world must take positive cues from us that we are ready to improve on our process, and make our electoral process more transparent and commendable,” the senate president said.

“This is because perception matters, as you all know. Perception is, in fact, the reality. At this point, it does seem to me that the onus is on INEC to demonstrate its independence. It should be pro-active and take bold decisions.

“And this is necessary because the responsibility to conduct a credible poll is solely that of the commission. This is elemental to retaining the confidence of the electorate.”