What is most shocking is the silence of institutions and civil society in the face of these allegations. If indeed money is being used to buy political loyalty and EFCC is being weaponized, where are the voices of reason? Where are the legal luminaries, the electoral watchdogs, the international observers, and most importantly, the Nigerian people?
OPINION NIGERIA
By Isaac Asabor
It is no more news that in a scathing revelation that raises serious concerns about the future of Nigeria’s democracy that former presidential adviser and ex-lawmaker Dr. Usman Bugaje has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of using financial inducements to lure key figures from the PDP. Speaking on Arise TV, Bugaje warned that the blatant monetization of politics poses a grave threat to democratic values in the country. If his claims are true, Nigeria’s democracy may be on a dangerous path.
Without a doubt, if Dr. Usman Bugaje’s allegation is anything to go by, and there is every reason not to dismiss it as a mere political rant, then what the APC is doing is no less than striking at the very heart of Nigeria’s democracy. The former House of Representatives member and ex-presidential adviser did not mince words when he said that the APC is buying off members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with money. If this is the truth, then democracy as we know it in Nigeria is fast becoming an expensive joke, a dark comedy directed by the highest bidder.
Let us start by acknowledging that Dr. Bugaje is not a political lightweight. His decades of experience and closeness to the corridors of power lend his statements significant credibility. So when he claims that defectors from PDP to APC are being enticed not by ideology, policy alignment, or a sudden epiphany about APC’s competence, but simply by raw cash and threats of prosecution, Nigerians must sit up and ask themselves: What exactly are we operating, democracy or dollar-cracy?
The latest defection from PDP to APC, this time involving Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, along with an entire army of political appointees, has left many Nigerians wondering if our democracy is now nothing more than a bazaar. One by one, opposition members are crossing over to the ruling party like traders switching shops for better sales, and the reason, according to Bugaje, is simple: money.