2023 presidential election ‘ll be won by highest spender – Babalola

Renowned legal expert, Afe Babalola on Thursday said the upcoming presidential election slated for February 25 will be won by the highest spender, not the best candidates among the contenders.

The legal luminary who disclosed this on Thursday in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, said Nigeria’s electoral process has been monetized, stressing that the winner of the election is going to be the person who has made money in this country.

He said, “It is the person who has the money that will win. A man who wants to rule the whole country or any part of the country, ought to be screened. Has he ever worked before, what type of work did he do, did he steal there, was he a good manager, does he pay his taxes regularly, what contributions has he made to society?

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“You cannot just come from nowhere and become president, become governor, become member of house; these are transactional business men.”

He further expressed skepticism about the current 1999 Constitution, noting that any election conducted therein will further plunge Nigerians into poverty.

“I still stand by my suggestion that any election conducted under the present 1999 Constitution cannot and will not produce new leaders with new ideas, rather any election conducted with the 1999 Constitution will merely result in recycling people who have brought Nigeria to grinding poverty, unemployment, under-funded education, and insecurity,” Babalola stated.

The 2022 primary elections in Nigeria brought to the fore the reality of vote buying and the role of money in the electoral process.

Delegates to the primary elections of the two major parties were reportedly paid thousands of dollars to induce them to vote for certain candidates.

In addition, the manipulation of ballots has gradually given way to material (often financial) inducement.

One factor behind this shift is the increased effectiveness of the Independent National Electoral Commission. The use of digital technology has made it more difficult to manipulate election results therefore, the onus is on the electorates to reject any form of inducement in order to entrench a sane and fair political process.