Politicians who don’t deserve your vote!

Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella (Lecturer, Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University) and David Adonri (Chief Executive Officer, High Cap Securities Limited)

As we move toward the next general election, it is important to start educating citizens on what to consider when casting their votes. Fortunately, recent elections have shown that many electorates are getting wiser by the day. Some recent off-season elections, particularly in Osun State, showed that voters either take money offered by politicians and vote for a rival party, or refuse the money and still vote for a rival party. That scenario may not play out in all States due to several social, cultural, educational, and religious factors.

In many situations, ethnic diversity, religious bigotry, xenophobic actions, et cetera, do determine electoral outcomes. Even in countries with high literacy, some of these mundane factors can override known objective factors. In the United States, where President Donald Trump played on the colour of skin or white supremacy to win elections, this is a case to debunk the notion of overarching effects of population literacy level in determining election processes and outcomes. We have observed situations in which even professors worship their religious leaders as gods and carry out instructions from them like morons or illiterates.

Nigerian electorates have surprisingly shown a high level of objectivity at some elections. In such circumstances, we see the electorate vote for different parties in different elections within the same election period. For example, Party A is voted for in the presidential election while Party C is voted for in the Gubernatorial election, regardless of a politician’s campaign to vote for the same party for consistency or to align with the central government. In that spirit, we believe some guidance can be useful for upcoming elections.

In the last three years, we have seen funds flow into the pockets of all categories of politicians from the federal government to help them fulfill their promises. Almost all the governors, irrespective of party affiliation, confirmed it, and many members of the legislature in the National Assembly confirmed the same. So, if you see a current politician who did not execute projects that improve your life or bring development projects to your community, do not allow such a politician to return to office or move to another office. A renewed term for such a politician will be worse. Many governors, after their second term, attempt to move to the Senate. In that second term, they perform woefully, concentrating efforts on the senatorial areas they intend to represent. Voting for such a politician is dangerous because he only wants to extend his opportunity for personal enrichment.

Do not vote for stingy legislators. Some legislators found their governors executing developmental projects and, instead of using their constituency funds to finance extended projects or engage in human capital development such as skill acquisition, scholarships for youths, and other youth empowerment programmes, they hide under the activities of the governor and pocket the constituency funds or use the same to finance their personal projects. The electorate in their constituency cannot point to any life-enhancing projects. Whether they want to go for another term or to move up to another level- Senate, governor, or National Assembly level- do not give them the opportunity, as they are likely to be worse.

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Do not vote for politicians who are desperate to serve you. You have rejected them many times, yet they continue to put themselves forward. Such politicians have no skills or vocation and are looking for an opportunity to scam you. We have seen some politicians jumping from one party to another with the hope of winning an election to “serve their people!”. If you check the records of such politicians who were finally lucky enough to win an election, you would see that they got to office to serve themselves. Examples abound.

Do not vote for politicians who flaunt the names of their godfathers. They have no record of their own to showcase. Those godfathers will not allow them to work for you. They will serve as proxies, and that brings dependency, not development. It may, on a few occasions, be beneficial, but each politician should be able to stand on his/her own or have something to show outside what the godfather presents.

Some politicians represent themselves for many years after serving, without a record of good performance, thinking people have forgotten their inglorious past. Those who can remember or know the past should enlighten those who have forgotten about such politicians. We cannot allow anyone to take us for granted anymore. Politicians who performed well in the past but left the stage for one reason or another, and who want to return, should be supported by electorates that know their records.

New hands are often better than old politicians with records of unfulfilled promises. After almost 30 years of democracy, we should be getting it right. We should have a pool of high performers as governors and legislators, just as we have a pool of failures and act right. I can recall a politician who facilitated the construction of a road that terminates a few metres after his house. In the next election, he put himself forward again, but the people ended his representation by voting for another party! He is presently in limbo because he has no skill, no vocation, and no job. He is now campaigning for another politician who might give him the position of a special adviser!