The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has described the governorship election in Ondo State as an “Ondo auction,” that was not close to a free and fair election that the people all yearned for.
He contended that the election was less about genuine democracy and more about transactional politics, with ‘willing buyers’ and ‘willing sellers’ dominating the process.
Reacting to the declaration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Sunday, Adebayo wrote on his X account that the Ondo election could serve as a case study for the Central Bank’s foreign exchange practices, given the efficient “marketplace” nature of the vote.
Adebayo maintained that there was a complete lack of authentic engagement of voters, stressing that ballots suddenly became commodities for trading for the highest bidder, against the decency required in an election.
In his post, Adebayo remarked: “The Ondo State Governorship Election of yesterday is what criminologists would term as victim-less crimes: a spectacle of willing buyers @OfficialAPCNg meeting willing sellers in a perfect market that should be an example for @cenbank in the foreign exchange markets. Ondo Auction is smoother than the Dutch Auction. Four years sold so freely and openly that no one should lie that they were coerced or intimidated or browbeaten. And @PoliceNG and @inecnigeria @AIT_Online @ARISEtv @KAFTAN_TV @channelstv @NTANewsNow all witnessed it live.
“No one should pretend that they need someone to interview over this. It is in order to congratulate the buyers on their purchased ‘victory’ while shedding some tears for the sellers with the Calvary elegy that ‘Father Forgive Them For They Knoweth Not What They Do.’ God Bless Nigeria and may God Guide Ondo State.”