As Nigerians head to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president, a frontline activist, Joe Okei-Odumakin has said that many voters might be inclined to sell their votes due to the prevailing naira scarcity.
The Founder of the Women Arise for Change Initiative said this in an interview with The Punch.
She said that the naira scarcity occasioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy has been quite hard on the common man in the past few weeks.
Okei-Odumakin said that although the naira redesign policy was aimed at curbing vote buying, the politicians know how to find their way around it.
She said, “It makes no sense to say this was to prevent vote-buying”.
Read Also: Fraud: Court fixes April 24 for arraignment of Ondo speaker, 2 others
The president of the pressure group, Campaign for Democracy added that the masses are thus left to bear the brunt of the policy fallout.
“The energy to resist vote-selling has been further sapped by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s mess. The energy to buy has been boosted. It is now on steroids.
“As a people, we have been exposed to artificial hazards many times in our history. The past few weeks have been very difficult for the common man. Millions of Nigerians who have been living from hand to mouth have not been able to access their own money deposited with commercial banks.
“Many of them are hungry and unable to meet their basic needs owing to the naira redesign policy of the Federal Government. How many of them would be able to resist the temptation of selling their votes when the opportunity arises?
“Yes, the policy is likely aimed at preventing vote-buying, but those who have been in the system know how to get out.
“We hope they don’t succeed this time because we want Nigerians to elect their leaders at all levels freely and without any form of inducement,” Okei-Odumakin said.