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.”
Source: Dailypost
