Former INEC National Commissioner Festus Okoye has accused Nigeria’s political class of trying to replace the people as the sovereign power through vote-buying rather than allowing genuine electoral choice.

Appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Okoye, who served as National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, said the political elite appear unwilling to let Nigerians freely choose their leaders.

“I think that political elite in this country really do not believe in free, fair, and transparent election. They just want to buy the votes of the people. They want to replace the people as the sovereign, and it is very unfortunate,” he said.

Okoye said a credible election should allow voters to cast ballots without intimidation, coercion or duress, and lamented that political parties lack clear ideologies and are not campaigning on issues. Instead, he accused them of seeking ways to ensure votes do not count on election day.

“But in this country, what we are now having is a situation where political parties have no ideologies, political parties are not campaigning on any issue, all they know is that on election day they will find a way of making sure that the votes of the people really do not count.”

On the use of technology in elections, Okoye called for continued improvements in the electoral process and deployment of technology when appropriate. He also urged the media, civil society organisations and Nigerians to pay close attention to the activities of the political elite before, during and after elections.

“I think that what is important is for the country to keep on improving and also keep on deploying technology as at when due in our electoral process. But more importantly, I think the media, civil society groups and organisations, and the Nigerian people generally must focus attention on the activities of the political elite before, during and after election.”

Okoye noted that ad hoc staff—including National Youth Service Corps members and other Nigerians recruited for elections—play a more prominent role in conducting elections at polling units than INEC’s regular staff.