Former chairman of the Young Democratic Party (YDP), Nya-Etok Ezekiel, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to urgently address the issue of vote-buying ahead of the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria.

Mr Ezekiel, a former governorship candidate of the party in Akwa Ibom state, described vote-buying as the evil that if not addressed, would be worse than corruption.

At a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Mr Ezekiel insisted that the architect of bad governance is due to an unchecked vote buying which has become cancer attacking Nigeria’s institutional framework.

“I have come here to put it on record that vote-buying is going to do this country more harm than good. Vote buying is that evil that if we do not address today, is going to be worse than what we call corruption.

“Whether militancy or killer herdsmen, Boko Haram or any form of insurgencies; all these can be addressed by a good set-up institutional framework. But Vote Buying is like cancer that attacks directly our institutional framework on account of which all these other insurgencies and evils can never be addressed when the system is compromised.”

He called on all citizens and well-wishers to check the menace before it affects the future of the country.

“I am calling on all elders, citizens and well-wishers to wake up to the evil called vote-buying. The realities, implications and what it prognosticates for the future of this country.”