The Acting Director General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Jonathan Juma said on Wednesday in Abuja that political parties in the country have failed to respect legal provisions on electoral spending as contained in the electoral act and has often spend money above the stipulated amount.
Juma who spoke at a capacity building training for political party leaders and National Organising Secretaries organised by the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre with support from the European Union (EU) Support Programme to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) in Abuja also asked Political Parties not to accept what it called private money in the build up to the 2019 general election as doing so may negate the ideologies of the parties.
He also condemn vote buying saying Nigerians and the political parties must rise up and work against the menace of vote buying and violations of regulations on campaign spending for the 2019 General Elections.
He said “We have the Electoral Act 2010 as amended which provide the limitation of election expenses. However, we know that parties have not respected that provisions.
“Perhaps, it is out of ignorance, but we hope that it was not deliberate. It is in recognition of this challenge that NIPSS Is Organising this capacity building on Campaign spending to equip political parties with the required skills to enable them work in accordance with the relevant laws.
“Vote buying is a function of the absence of ideology because people naturally flow toward ideologies that meet their expectations. If the political class assesses money from the money bags, they would determine the direction of the party and not the electorates, despite that everyone has one vote, but if the loyalty is with party members and electorates, the will of the people would be supreme”.
National Chairman of InterParty Advisory Council, Chief Peter Ameh, said even though the National Assembly has recently amended the Electoral Act to peg Campaign spending foe the Presidential election at N5 billion, there was the need to rework the nation’s laws.
He said the council, CSOs and other stakeholders have been carrying out series of advocacy across the country to sensitize and mobilize voters on the need to protect and not sell their votes.
“They should know that they are selling their votes alongside electricity, pipe borne water and others. Even some don’t know that the government is to serve the citizens and not their elected or appointed into governance. You can say it is only four years, but four years in the life of a nation may seem small, four years in the life of an individuals is quite much and its impacts too, so people should do away with vote buying in the interest of persons , society and the nation at large”.
Ameh who is also the National Chairman of the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) said “We need to rework our laws and see how it works and better manage the process. The National Organising Secretaries are the engine room of the political parties because you are supposed to be involved in coordination and Organising. You are supposed to work within the regulations and see how your parties come out successful.
“The National Assembly has come out with a gauge for spending for election, pegging spending at N5billion. But I think that the corruption in election is not in the area of Campaign funding.
“As IPAC, we need to do more advocacy and make Nigerians realize that vote selling in an election is like taking away your future. Every money you take in an election is an investment waiting to to recouped when he comes into office.”
NIPSS Director of Research and Chief Operating Officer of the Political Parties Leadership and Policy Development Centre (PPLPDC), Prof. Habu Galadima, said though there must be expense during elections; it should not be at the detriment of the nation.
“In every election, you have to spend, but the sources of the spending and how much is spend would have to be regulated by the law and there has to be some limit to campaign spending. All the countries of the world have limits to what can be spent at a specific time,” Galadima said.
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