Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State has once again drawn attention to Nigeria’s persistent vote-buying culture, an ailment that continues to plague the country’s democracy.
Development Diaries reports that there were widespread cases of vote buying, conspiracy, and undue influence across the state as the people of Anambra went to the polls.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and its Election Analysis Centre (CDD-EAC), in their assessment, noted that vote buying was widespread and openly practised in several local government areas.
According to CDD, this practice was in the full glare of security personnel, and party agents offered cash or used digital transfer methods to influence voters, with amounts ranging from N2,000 to N10,000 per voter.
Despite efforts to reform the electoral process through legislation and technology, money still plays a big and harmful role in Nigerian politics.
It is more concerning that vote buying has evolved into an organised system involving desperate voters and powerful political actors and their agents who exploit poverty and weak enforcement to subvert the will of the people.
In its post-election assessment, Yiaga Africa reported that the official results of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) align with its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) exercise, which provides a measure of credibility to the election outcome.
While the technical performance of the electoral umpire may have improved in areas like result transmission, its moral authority is undermined when offenders walk free.
Also, the normalisation of cash-for-votes, no matter how minimal, remains a moral and institutional threat that weakens public trust in elections and the larger democratic process.
Based on the findings from various polling units, INEC needs to urgently refer all allegations of vote buying to the Nigerian police, the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
These joint security bodies need to move beyond public condemnation and take coordinated, visible action against vote buyers and their sponsors.
The commission should publish a list of ongoing investigations into electoral offences and push for the creation of an Electoral Offences Commission to ensure consistent prosecution.
Photo source: BBC
