- Adams warned that Nigeria’s democracy is at serious risk ahead of the 2027 general elections due to vote buying.
- He called for electoral reforms and the removal of INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu before his tenure ends in 2025.
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has cautioned that the increasing prevalence of vote purchasing is endangering the democratic system in Nigeria.
While speaking at the sixth annual Freedom Online Newspaper lecture in Lagos on Thursday, Adams faulted both leaders and citizens for contributing to the deterioration of democracy.
He pointed to instances from previous elections in Edo state and Ondo state, alleging that votes were blatantly exchanged between political party representatives and voters.
Adams noted that citizens, who ought to demand accountability from those in power, have “thrown away their franchise” by engaging in the practice of vote selling.
He raised alarms regarding the upcoming 2027 general elections, stressing that the nation’s democracy is presently at serious risk.
Adams urged immediate reforms in the electoral system and insisted that Mahmood Yakubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, should be removed before his tenure expires in 2025.
He further advocated for restructuring, emphasising that Nigeria’s federating units should operate independently to effectively tackle governance-related issues.
“Our leaders display a nonchalant attitude toward the governance of this country. The led (citizens) sold their rights and threw away their franchise,” Adams said.
“The experiences at the Edo and Ondo governorship elections gave a serious concern about the country’s democracy.
“There was an area during the Ondo election in which N20,000 each was paid to voters during the elections. The least was N10,000. The highest bidder won the election.
“This is giving us concern about what will happen in 2027. This trend is showing that our democracy is gradually going to the grave. We need to do something drastically to reform our electoral reforms.
“Restructuring will take care of all these anomalies. We will continue to speak high-sounding grammars if we do not restructure this country. Federating units must be allowed to function.”
Among those present at the event was Siminalayi Fubara, Rivers governor, represented by Tele Ikuru, a former deputy governor, along with Bode George, ex-deputy national chairman (south) of the PDP.
Other notable attendees included Gbenga Daniel, former Ogun state governor; Adewole Adebayo, SDP’s 2023 presidential candidate; and Kofoworola Bucknor Akerele, past deputy governor of Lagos state.
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