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A Nigerian politician was arrested on Friday with almost $500,000 in U.S. payments in his automobile and a listing of doable recipients for the cash, the police stated, saying his detention on the eve of a intently watched presidential election during which vote shopping for has frightened officers.
Vote shopping for, lengthy an issue in Nigeria, is certainly one of a number of potential threats to the election, which is ready to happen on Saturday. For years, politicians within the nation have been accused of handing out money for votes, understanding that many Nigerians — greater than 60 % of individuals dwell in poverty — are in want.
The native police on Friday recognized the arrested politician as Chinyere Igwe, a lawmaker in Nigeria’s decrease parliamentary chamber and a member of the opposition Folks’s Democratic Celebration. They stated he was arrested on suspicion of cash laundering however didn’t announce formal expenses.
Mr. Igwe couldn’t instantly be reached for remark, and it was not clear whether or not he had a lawyer.
The police additionally asserted that Mr. Igwe, a consultant within the southern metropolis of Port Harcourt, was discovered not with the nationwide foreign money, naira, however with massive piles of American $100 payments in his automobile.
The federal government determined final yr to exchange its foreign money with new notes, partially to forestall politicians from stockpiling naira to purchase votes. President Muhammadu Buhari, who has reached his time period restrict and isn’t standing for re-election, stated it had diminished the affect of cash on politics.
However because the transition interval for altering outdated notes ended this month, the foreign money change has thrown the nation into chaos, with most Nigerians unable to withdraw their money.
The likelihood {that a} politician deliberate to purchase votes with U.S. {dollars}, because the police indicated, instructed that the difficulty of vote shopping for is probably not restricted to Nigeria’s native foreign money. (It isn’t restricted to cash, both; in previous elections, some votes have been purchased with meals, like baggage of rice.) Some nongovernmental organizations have urged the nation’s central financial institution to trace suspicious financial institution transfers earlier than the vote.
Vote shopping for is certainly one of many points that might tarnish the integrity of Nigeria’s election, an in depth race during which three candidates have an excellent likelihood of successful: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a 70-year-old former governor of Lagos who’s the candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress; Atiku Abubakar, a former vp who has run for the presidency 5 occasions; and Peter Obi, a 61-year-old shock front-runner who’s seen because the candidate of the youth.
In a separate operation, Nigeria’s antigraft company announced on Friday that it had seized 32.4 million naira, or about $70,000, which it asserted was meant for vote shopping for in Lagos, the nation’s largest metropolis. It stated somebody had been taken into custody, however didn’t title the particular person or say whether or not they have been appearing on behalf of a celebration.
One other risk is the danger of election-related violence, which might discourage voters from going to polling stations.
Mutmaina Omobolame, a 20-year-old laptop science scholar in Ibadan, Nigeria’s third-largest metropolis, stated this week that she did “not really feel like voting,” though she holds a voting card, as a result of she was afraid violence might get away.
Nigeria’s electoral body said this week that 87 million Nigerians had collected their voting playing cards and would be capable of solid a poll on Saturday, the most important determine ever for a democratic election in Africa.
Whether or not that may translate into excessive voter turnout stays to be seen.
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