THE crime of money politics is revisited as a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, recently claimed that money allegedly played the major role in the emergence of the candidate of his party, Bola Ahmed Bola.

Nwajiuba has sued Tinubu and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, at an Abuja High Court for allegedly bribing their ways to victory. He is asking the court to disqualify them and declare him as APC’s presidential candidate.

Others, similarly unhappy about the development, had, on their part, blamed the delegates for receiving bribes. For vote-buying to take place, there must be a willing buyer and seller. Politicians who know they are not good enough for the offices they are vying for use money to induce voters or delegates to choose them ahead of more qualified and competent candidates. They thus supplant the people’s genuine will.

A buyer must make profit. Those who buy their ways into power feel no obligation to work for those they bribed, including the millions more who were not. That is why we have runaway corruption and poor governance. This makes Nigerian politics a huge criminal enterprise.

Apart from bribing delates and voters with cash and foodstuffs, some politicians also buy off Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, to rig elections. A viral video surfaced recently of two men collecting PVCs from hundreds of women somewhere in the North in exchange for N500!

Poverty has been weaponised to the point that in some parts of the country, people are willing to surrender their power to politicians for an amount that can hardly buy a decent meal.

In other parts of the world, politicians vie for power to improve the lives of the people. When the populace are used to the good things of life such as constant electricity, water, good roads, quality and affordable education, a functional healthcare system and easy access to cheap funds for business startups, they will not need any politician to offer them bribes to vote.

But here in Africa and Nigeria, in particular, long years of corrupt politics and governance have massively impoverished the people. It has rendered them vulnerable to sell their votes. Amaechi’s effort to shift the blame to the “ordinary people” is totally misplaced.

Both parties are culpable, but the so-called political leaders must bear the bigger brunt. They not only weaponised poverty, they always offer to buy votes from those willing to sell. The law enforcement agents only help themselves too.

This vicious circle must be broken. Corrupt politicians who buy the vote and their “customers” must be made to face the music. Party members must finance their parties and be in a position to demand good governance.