By: Sunday Ameh
The National Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement and Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle, has identified vote buying as one of the major factors undermining Nigeria’s democracy, urging citizens to reject electoral inducement and vote according to their conscience.
Speaking during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, Dantalle warned that the practice of exchanging votes for money continues to weaken democratic institutions and deny Nigerians quality leadership.
“Elect who you want. Reject a peanut or that evil called vote buying,” he said.
The APM chairman, however, advised voters not to allow financial inducements influence their choices at the polls.
“If they give you and you are forced to take, take, but do what is right,” he added.
Dantalle also assessed the administration of President Bola Tinubu as it marks its third year in office, acknowledging efforts by the Federal Government while lamenting the economic hardship facing many Nigerians.
“I sympathise with the President. He is doing his best to fix Nigeria,” he said. “But Nigerians are suffering in a very terrible way today.”
According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy was intended to eliminate corruption and free up resources for national development, but many citizens have yet to feel the expected benefits.
“The idea was to reinvest that money into infrastructure and other salient sectors of our socio-economic life. But unfortunately, that is not happening,” he stated.
While commending ongoing road projects across the country, Dantalle argued that governance should ultimately be measured by improvements in the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.
“I commend the President and the Minister of Works. I see a lot of road infrastructure going on, but the average life of Nigerians is beyond the reach of the common man,” he said.
The IPAC chairman linked worsening economic conditions to rising insecurity, noting that hardship has contributed to increasing criminal activities across the country.
Drawing from sociological theories, he argued that systemic failures often push citizens toward unlawful means of survival, including kidnapping and cybercrime.
“That innovation is what you see at Yahoo, you see at kidnapping, you see at so many social ills,” he said.
Dantalle said the solution to Nigeria’s challenges lies beyond economic reforms, calling instead for a comprehensive restructuring of the country’s value system and institutions.
“The APM and my presidential candidate have said we will reset Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, the proposed reset would address corruption, inequality, weak institutions, declining moral values and the growing disconnect between government and citizens.
He also criticised what he described as unequal treatment before the law, arguing that influential individuals often enjoy privileges unavailable to ordinary Nigerians.
“The treatment that goes to the man who is a VIP and the man who is a common man is not the same,” he said.
The APM chairman further called for inclusive governance and an end to what he described as winner-takes-all politics.
“We must learn to avoid politics of winner takes all and loser lose all,” he stated.
Speaking on the party’s presidential aspiration, Dantalle reaffirmed his support for Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, whom he described as a capable and people-oriented leader.
“If anybody will be sincere, you know the situation of Oyo State before his emergence,” he said.
He argued that Makinde’s performance in Oyo State demonstrated his capacity to provide effective leadership at the national level.
“If you juxtapose pre-Seyi Makinde and Seyi Makinde’s tenure, you will know if he is capable of replicating the same thing across board,” Dantalle added.
The APM chairman concluded that Nigeria’s insecurity, poverty and governance challenges were products of years of neglect and exclusion, insisting that national renewal would only be possible when citizens are made to feel a sense of ownership in the country.
“If Nigerians are made to believe they own Nigeria, nobody would want to destroy what belongs to him,” he said.
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