Both APC and PDP step up the bribing of voters with stomach infrastructure ahead of supplementary poll

BOTH of Nigeria's two main political parties have stepped up their wooing of voters in five states that will hold supplementary polls next Saturday with the handing out of cash and gift items in a desperate attempt to win support.

On March 9, Nigerians went to the polls to elect governors in 29 states but in six states, the results were declared inconclusive and supplementary elections have been planned for Saturday March 23. This means Inec will hold re-runs in parts of in Benue, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa and Plateau states, while in Bauchi and Rivers states, the commission intends to resume the collation of results and announce a winner this week.

With most of these races tight, both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are passionately wooing voters with money, gift items and lobbying other political parties for support. They are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to emerge victorious in the rerun, even resorting to pressurising religious leaders to help them convince members of their congregations to vote for them.

For instance, both the APC and the PDP in Sokoto State are said to be handing out gift items to voters. One voter said that items being used to induce voters ahead of the election included clothes, handsets, soap and assorted food items.

He added: “Both parties are involved in vote-buying. They have invaded our neighbourhood and are going from house to house, tempting us with cash.

"The situation is worse in the rural areas where agents of the two leading parties try to outsmart one another by obtaining eligible voters’ permanent voter cards with a down payment and a promise to give them additional money when the card is returned. They are planning to return the cards on the eve of the election and once you vote for them, you will be given your balance.”

However, Alhaji Kabiru Aliyu, the secretary of the Sokoto State chapter of the PDP, exonerated his party from the allegation of vote- buying, saying it would never engage in such acts. He, however, accused the opposition of having plans to buy votes.

Aliyu added, “Members of the opposition party in the state are the ones engaging in vote- buying because they have nothing to use to campaign in the state.

Abdulkadir Waziri, an APC chieftain in Sokoto State, however, accused the PDP of using state resources to buy votes for Governor Aminu Tambuwal, describing it as satanic. He also alleged that the security agents in the state and Independent National Electoral Commission officials were working for the PDP to deny the electorate the freedom of choosing their leaders.

In Adamawa State, the PDP and APC leaders stepped up the wooing of supporters of other political parties. For instance, the APC leaders had been making consultations with the supporters of the African Democratic Congress and those of the Social Democratic Party in the state.

In Kano State, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje has been accused of stepping up the construction of infrastructural projects in the Nassarawa Local Government Area where supplementary elections are due to take place. Both the PDP and APC are reported to have gone spiritual in Kano State over the last week, going on hajj to Saudi Arabia and visiting local mosques.