Former President Goodluck Jonathan has described politicians, who indulge in vote buying to win elections as “armed robbers.”
Jonathan stated this while speaking with journalists after casting his vote in Bayelsa, his home state, on Saturday evening. According to him, the conduct of politicians matters during the elections, saying politics ought to be seen as a “clean business.”
He said, “For us who are politicians, our conduct matters a lot and I always tell politicians that yes, you can win the election through unorthodox means or not. Like using violence to win elections or buying votes and so on but when you do that, you are behaving like an armed robber or a con man.
“Armed robber makes money through robbery; but everybody knows he is an armed robber. A con man makes money through deceiving people, but everybody knows. They are not decent members of society.
“Politicians are supposed to be decent members of society. So we must conduct our prayers clearly, and very creatively so that our supporters, relatives, and so on will know that politics is a clean business and allow people to vote who they want at any level of elections. My plea with the politicians, the security agencies, the INEC workers, is to do their best for the country. The whole world is looking at us”.
On the performance of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS), Jonathan described the device as a better development. “My wish for Nigeria is for us to conduct a peaceful election”, he added.
