Ekiti election: Why one vote should cost Guber candidates N864,000 – Charlyboy, others

As the people of Ekiti state head to the polls on Saturday, Convener
of the OurMumuDonDo movement, Charles Oputa, alias Charlyboy, and his
co-travellers have advised each voter who is willing to sell his or
her ballot to politicians to do so at the cost of N864,000, stressing
that the electorates should refrain from selling their votes if a
governorship candidate is unwilling to pay that amount for one.

Apart from the OurMumuDonDo movement, this view expressed on Friday in
an open letter to the people of Ekiti state, was supported by
Concerned Nigerians, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and
Mad Connect, which were respectively represented by Adeyanju Deji,
Ariyo Dare-Atoye and Moses Paul.

They argued that since the national minimum wage was N18,000, voters
willing to be financially induced must ensure they charge politicians
N864,000 being the sum of N18,000 multiplied by the number of months
the particular governor they are selling their votes for would be in
office.

The groups, however, stated this after calling on the electorates in
Ekiti to be peaceful and vote for the candidate in whom they are
strongly convinced of his capacity, character, and competence, as well
as enjoining them to "shun every politician or political party that
offers you money to influence your ballot; they are the real enemies
of democracy and good governance".

OurMumuDonDo then said, "if you wish to sell your vote, you must
insist on 864,000Naira as the cost of selling your vote. This is
because the minimum wage in Nigeria today is 18,000Naira, and when you
multiply 18,000Naira by 48months which is the total number of months
that constitute a single tenure of a governor, you will arrive at
864,000Naira. You must bear in mind that any politician or political
party that gives you less than 864,000Naira to influence your ballot
is simply trying to shortchange you, and you must ignore them. If you
cannot get 864,000Naira as the cost of selling your vote, then do not
sell your vote at all. Rather, look for a candidate that has the
capacity, competence, and character of serving you well and making
Ekiti State better for everyone."