TRIBUNE
Convener of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Professor Ango Abdullahi, speaks to DARE ADEKANMBI on the North’s position on the February 25 presidential election, dismissing the claims that the governors will decide where the votes will swing, speaks on the need to thinker with the political structure of the country, among other issues.
The naira scarcity occasioned by the money redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is being greeted with mixed reactions. While some are saying it will help curb vote buying, others feel it is piling to the pressure on ordinary Nigerians. Where do you stand on this?
The courts are there to resolve the matter if there are people with different positions and arguments on the policy. The resolution of the differences can only be solved in the court of law. It looks to me that so many stakeholders are already in court and one can hear verdict coming from the courts, including the Supreme Court, about what is right or what is wrong. So there is not much to say.
Last year, you spoke strongly against vote buying and how it poses a threat to free choice at elections. Don’t you see this naira policy as something that can help stop or reduce vote merchandising?
No, I don’t think so. The people who buy votes are politicians and it has so happened that it is the politicians that are in control of the CBN and the commercial banks. So, the fact there is re-printing or re-designing of our naira does not take away from politicians who rely on the system to control the supply of the old or the new currency. So, they can still go ahead with their practice of buying votes. All these are gimmicks. The real solution to vote buying is law enforcement and vote education. The law should be able to catch those who are buying or selling their votes. By voter education here means people should be told that they should not sell their future for N5,000 or even N10,000 and suffer for another four or eight years as the case may be. All these other things are just side talks.
