The former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has attributed the widespread vote buying and selling reported in Anambra election to bad governance.

Mr Obi made the remarks on Saturday at Polling Unit 019, Agulu, in Anaocha Local Government Area after casting his vote at the ongoing Anambra governorship election.

He expressed concern over the scale of vote buying, which he said ranged between N15,000 and N30,000.

“It is sad that bad governance is fueling vote buying and selling.

“For an unemployed youth who sells his vote for N30,000, what will he be paid next month when there is no election?

“By selling your vote, you are selling no school, no hospital, no jobs and selling away your future. This is worrisome,” Mr Obi said.

He urged journalists to collaborate in combating the menace.

Mr Obi, a Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election, described the contestants in the election as his friends.

“Whoever wins, let him serve the people.

“Nigeria needs service now. We need to pull our people out of poverty,” he said.

Over two million voters are eligible to vote in the 5,720 polling units across the 21 local government areas of the state.

Four of the 16 candidates contesting the election are widely regarded as the frontrunners.

They include the incumbent governor, Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA); entrepreneur Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); former Managing Director of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority, George Moghalu, representing the Labour Party (LP); and businessman and economist John Chuma-Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

(NAN)