The lawmaker representing Bayelsa-east at the National Assembly, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has charged Nigerians to advocate for a reduction in salaries for political office holders, stressing that the huge salary of politicians was responsible for electoral violence.
Reacting to a statement credited to former Oyo governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, in which the former governor reportedly said he was happy to have lost in the last election because of the dwindling allocation to states, Murray-Bruce said it was apparent that money was the major reason politicians contest elections.
In a series of tweets posted on his official Twitter handle on Saturday, the lawmaker famed for “common-sense advocacy, said, “This (Alao-Akala’s statement) vindicates my argument that money drives do-or-die politics. Close the treasury and do-or-die politics would end.
“If you really want to bid farewell to do-or-die politics, Nigerians must vehemently push for a ‘demonetization’ of politics at all levels. Money drives do-or-die elections. Those states with dwindling federal allocations will soon experience a decline in do-or-die politics.
“Do-or-die politics thrive because the president and governors have too much power over the treasury of their states. Remove that and it will end,” he tweeted.
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