The ongoing distribution of money to traders in the name of a social intervention howbeit a “good intention” remains a questionable act of the Federal Government and the office of the Vice President when we consider the time this intervention is taking place across Nigeria.
This same programme was done weeks before the Osun Governorship election and now we are seeing a similar trend weeks to the February 16, 2019 Presidential elections. And we stand to call for an inquiry into this acts and the processes followed in the disbursement of the funds.
One would ask if the government is just realizing traders’ difficulties in accessing collateral-free loans that weeks to the elections, they suddenly decide to share money to traders. Let’s not deceive ourselves, trader money is simply money to buy the votes of the petty traders who are illiterates and therefore do not know enough to discern that this is nothing but a ploy to buy their votes.
Nigeria has more than 120 million people living on less than N700 daily and we have just recently been crowned the poverty capital of the world. So if the government at this time can share N10,000 to petty traders weeks ahead of an election under the guise of providing intervention to traders, then all Nigerians deserve intervention funds if the government’s motive were right.
Whatever the intention is, the period of executing the programme is really questionable and we the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) say this is another form of votes-buying by the President Mohammadu Buhari government — it’s nothing but corruption.
The government, in other words, is inciting Nigerians ahead of the elections and more so making the playing field uneven. It will be important therefore to remind the government that the money they are sharing is not theirs and neither does it belong to the All Progressive Congress (APC) because countless videos have been posted where people are meant to pledge allegiance to vote the APC before they get this evil porridge and sell their souls and conscience.
This government has been known to peddle lies since inception. They have shown utter carelessness about the lives and properties of the citizens. They deceive the populace that they are fighting corruption, yet they entrench corruption further into the system. They fund propagandas to influence the minds of the average Nigerian. And then they wake up with another of their gimmicks in the name of Trader Money with the hopes to deceive Nigerians once again.
The Alliance for New Nigeria represents the voice of over 100 million Nigerian youths, and we say unequivocally NO TO VOTE-BUYING under the guise of TraderMoney. No to greek gifts and no to evil porridges. We say that we are not going to sell our future and destiny and for this reason, we call on every Nigerian petty trader to ensure they do not sell their conscience to anyone who has brought them more pains than gains in the near 4 years of their ineffective leadership.
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