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Wabara on money politics
In a recent interview with the Saturday Punch, Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara, lamented the pervasive influence of money on the nation�s politics. He observed, �You see, most of us came into the National Assembly with very high expectations. It is an investment, really, to come to the National Assembly� When we go around campaigning and asking for votes, we don�t get these votes free. Even in America, it is not free. You spend some money.� Continuing, he said, �You know, most of us even sold houses and they are not better off. And most of us are regretting it. It is not as if senators or legislators have come in there to make or steal money... You come in there through legitimate means but you can�t recoup what you spent.�
Though the Senate President has not said anything new, what is significant is that the nation�s number three citizen has acknowledged, publicly, what many had seen as a cankerworm capable of destroying the nation�s politics. When political aspirants sell their houses or borrow money from banks in a bid to seek political office, it is obvious that they are motivated by everything but public service. A politician who borrows in order to win an election will, of necessity, see his election expenses as an investment that has to be recouped.
At the root of the nation�s lingering development crisis, therefore, is a predatory political class that perceives public office as the shortest route to corrupt self-enrichment. The worsening poverty occasioned by economic stagnation is a direct consequence of rampant plunder of public funds meant for the development of infrastructure and the provision of social amenities. It is the rush to occupy �lucrative� public offices that has often generated tension and social upheavals. The most unfortunate aspect of the problem is that democracy, with its acclaimed institutional checks and balances, has failed to curb official graft. At all tiers of government, legislative powers have been corrupted and compromised as instruments for extorting money from the executive. The Senate, for instance, has been marked more by financial scandals than any excellent achievement in law-making.
One source of the problem is the huge sums of money required by aspirants seeking public office, as made plain by Chief Wabara. As a result, honest, selfless and committed but indigent Nigerians are inadvertently prevented from participating in politics. Regrettably, the nation�s electoral commission, too, once demanded large deposits from candidates seeking elective offices. This has bred a fresh problem of �political entrepreneurship,� where moneybags sponsor candidates with the hope of recovering their �investments� through padded contracts and outright embezzlement of public funds. Wabara�s �confession� should serve as a turning point.
As a first step, the Federal Government should overhaul the nation�s electoral system from the party primaries to the general elections levels. The electoral system, which must be made truly independent and transparent, should de-emphasize the influence of money in politics. Hopefully, at a future date, public-spirited foundations would come forward at election time to sponsor credible candidates, as it is the practice in the developed world; and it would be possible to grant tax rebates to candidates, based on verifiable electoral expenses.
The economy should be revamped through liberalization and other market reforms in order to create a ready alternative to politics as a means to wealth. Human conduct is goal-oriented and based on anticipated reward or punishment. The monster of official graft thrives wherever the corrupt is left unpunished. The anti-graft institutions must be strengthened to apprehend and punish the corrupt according to the law.
The PUNCH, Wednesday, June 30, 2004
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