Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has decried vote buying in the ongoing Anambra State governorship election, alleging that votes are being bought for between ?20,000 and ?30,000.

Obi, who spoke shortly after voting at about 11:50 a.m. at his Umudim/Akasi Ward, said the development was not good for the country’s democracy.

He said, “My personal experience is that democracy is deteriorating in our country. Unfortunately, those who are the victims of bad governance seem to be fuelling it. I have been able to listen to people around me on what is happening today. What you see is that vote buying is on the scale of ?20,000, ?30,000.

“The question I ask is, if you sell your vote for ?30,000, what is he going to be paid next month? By selling your vote, you’re selling no school, no hospital, no job; you’re selling away your future, and that is what is very worrisome.

“Other countries, even West African countries that are close to us where I have observed elections, I didn’t see this happen. So you people who are journalists, you must cooperate to save the situation.”

On his prediction for the election, he said, “I’m a member of LP and I support the LP candidate, but quite frankly, everybody involved in this election, they are my brothers and my sisters and everything. I’m not on the ballot. I have been governor 13 years ago, so I’m strictly in the Champions League of Nigerian politics; I’m contesting to be president of Nigeria. For people who are in the 1st Division, I wish them well. I hope surely they will do very well. Whoever wins, let him serve the people.”

He stated that Nigeria needs service-minded leaders to pull the people out of poverty, stressing that “our people need to know that schools are working; it’s not grandstanding. We need to rebuild the hospitals. That’s why we are supporting nursing schools to be able to produce the manpower that is required for every village to have a primary healthcare centre where people can go to.”

On the performance of INEC in the election, he said, “I have congratulated the new INEC chairman and told him to look at what happened to his predecessors. All I can say to him is that the name and reputation his children will live with is a test for him in office. So while you are there, try to serve humanity and society.” (THE GUARDIAN)