Former President Olusegun Obasanjo remembered how his political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, lost a local government election in Ogun State in 1998 because he refused to bribe police and INEC workers.
Obasanjo stated that party leaders informed him that money should be earmarked for the police and INEC, but he rejected the notion because he believes INEC officials and policemen are government employees who receive monthly salaries.
The former President addressed at a high-level consultation on ‘Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa’ on Monday in Abeokuta.
During the debate, the African leader informed lawmakers and scholars that he is not always comfortable using the phrase “Nigerian factor” when addressing democracy and other development challenges.
According to him, he came across the ‘Nigerian factor’ slang when the country held its first local government election, which his party lost because lawmakers said they refused to consider the Nigerian factor while arranging the poll.
“When things go wrong, you said the Nigerian factor. The first thing I learnt in politics was this thing called the Nigerian factor.
“In 1998, we had the first local government election. We had parties, and here in Abeokuta, we met in my office and they came up and said, ‘look, this is money for INEC, money for police.’ At a stage I said, ‘what nonsense! Is the police not being paid, and INEC too?’
“They said ‘that’s how we do it. I said ‘you cannot do that.’ So, they didn’t do that. And of course, we lost all the local governments. We lost all. And then they came to me and said, ‘Baba, you see? If you had allowed us to do it the way we used to do it, we would have won’. And I felt guilty.
“During the next election, which was the State Assembly, I just stayed in my house. I said ‘well, do whatever you want to do, I will not be part of it’. So, I didn’t even go. But, the result was the same. One of the people who got money didn’t even distribute it to where he was supposed to distribute it,” Obasanjo recounted.
The octogenarian emphasised that the Western liberal democracy being practised in Africa has not really taken human nature and the African situation into full account.
While saying it is time to be realistic, the Balogun of Owu said a hungry person will sell his vote for just N1000.
“When you are hungry, whatever anybody tells you cannot go in. Poverty is a great enemy of democracy. Ignorance or lack of education is a great enemy of democracy. And we seem to be deliberately fomenting poverty and lack of education,” he stated.