Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan says politicians who resort to violence or vote buying to win elections are not different from ‘armed robbers’ and ‘con men’.
Jonathan, who spoke with journalists after casting his vote in Bayelsa, his home state, on Saturday evening, said he expects the elections to be peaceful while hoping that politicians will project Nigerian politics as a ‘clean business’.
“My wish for Nigeria is for us to conduct a peaceful election,” the former president said.
“For us who are politicians, our conduct matters a lot and I always tell politicians that yes, you can win the election through unorthodox means or not. Like using violence to win elections or buying votes and, but when you do that, you behavee an armed robber or a con man.
“An armed robber makes money through robbery, but everybody knows he is an armed robber. A con man makes money by deceiving people, but everybody knows. They are not decent members of society.
“Politicians are supposed to be decent members of society. So we must conduct our prayers clearly and creatively so that our supporters, relatives, and so on will know that politics is a clean business and allow people to vote whom they want at any level of elections.”
Speaking of the performance of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS), Jonathan said it was a significant improvement in the electoral process despite the technical problems.
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