The spokesperson of the Northern
Elders Forum, NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, has described as corrupt act the
recent endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term by the APC
governors.
He also described as corrupt, the
adoption of delegate system by political parties in primary elections.
According to the former special
adviser to ex-Presidential adviser, the system allows the aspirantsto buy votes
of the delegates.
Abdullahi, who fielded questions
from the Sun at the weekend, said, “On the issue of endorsement of President
Buhari by APC governors, I see this as corruption and it’s sad that we are
fighting against corruption and we render ourselves to it.
“In fact, this the first place to
fight against corruption. With this endorsement people are afraid of contesting
elections in their states.
“Some governors are promoting
this. A governor pays some people money to endorse him as governor and Buhari
as president.
“Other members of the party
should be given chance to participate in open or direct primary to cast their
votes for candidates of their choice. This is democracy in the real sense.
“I believed that we’ll not have a
good selection of candidates as long as we have delegate system. The present
delegate system in operation is open to obvious abuse by people who have cash.
“People with money will invest by
buying delegates to vote for them. You see, all the delegates are happy because
they know all aspirants will come and pay money.
“At the end of the day, how they
share the votes or which candidate wins is immaterial. It is a corrupt system
that throws in corrupt candidates who will end up being corrupt leaders in
government.
“Therefore, I strongly support
that any serious party should subject itself to a system of elections that is
participatory for all members. Internal democracy here, to me, refers to party
subjecting its members to a process that will be through popular election, not
just a system that is controlled by party leaders on the question of who is the
highest bidder in terms of emergence of candidate.
“It’ll be unfortunate if, in
2019, elections end up with this ugly system that will throw in corrupt leaders
in government.
“We have complained about the
corrupt practice of stealing billion of naira by some ex-governors, ministers
and DGs from government, and we are trying to repeat same.”
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