THE MENACE TO VOTE BUYING IN NIGERIAN ELECTIONS (A STUDY OF 2019 AND 2023 ELECTION)

THE MENACE TO VOTE BUYING IN NIGERIAN ELECTIONS (A STUDY OF 2019 AND 2023 ELECTION)

Background of the study

One of the pillars that support every democracy is elections. Elections seem to have become a major factor in the stabilization and democratization of emerging democracies. It forms an important pillar that places the power to govern with the people. Elections are important to a nation’s construction and the electorates since it performs the role of a litmus test for democratic institutions (David et al., 2022). It ensures that democratic pillars including rule of law, ballot secrecy, separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and many more are strengthened. Elections therefore allow citizens to take part in governance. Thus, elections give the citizens the opportunity to select their leaders. Electorates use elections to evaluate how leadership or governments have excelled in all facets of national life such as education, economy, agriculture, corruption, standard of living and others. It is therefore a cardinal process through which power is allocated, and representative democracy is actualized. Elections and more specifically voting are important mechanisms for selecting leaders for political offices in every democracy (Ugwu et al., 2023). They aggregate preferences, help select better public officials, and provide incentives for politicians to act in the interest of the voters they represent. Since it is through elections that candidates are able to appeal and explain their intended policies to electorates before they are voted into power. The two main functions of elections in the world and particularly in Africa that is whether to change a regime and its leadership or to seek approval from the electorates to enhance democratic and constitutional transition (Eze, 2023). Several countries in the world currently select their national leaders through multi-party elections. However, in some developing countries especially in Africa, the quality of elections still varies widely as elections have been plagued with problems such as ballot fraud, intimidation, multiple voting, low voter education, snatching of ballot boxes, violence, giving out of electoral incentives or buying of votes and others. Just as democratic elections have spread across the globe since the early 1970s, so has electoral incentives and buying of votes. Vote buying has been widespread in many countries that have continued along the path towards democracy. Vote buying happens frequently in many parts of the world (Eze, 2023).

Indeed, vote buying which in some literature is referred to as clientelism has a long history. The use of electoral incentives to buy votes has been a frequent practice during electoral campaigns and elections in several developing and developed countries. Campaigns seek to ensure that voters clearly associate the gift with their candidate. For example, the candidate's flyer may be stapled to packages of food handed out to voters or cash may be attached to flyer or letter from the candidate. Most commonly, candidates distribute money attached to a sample ballot, and encourage voters to take the ballots with them to the polls as a guide. The sample ballot includes not just the candidate's name, but also allied candidates from other races up and down the ticket (Nnenna et el., 2023).

Vote buying appears in different forms in every society. It may take the form of direct payments to voters. Vote buying in its literal sense, is a simple economic exchange. Candidates “buy” and citizens “sell” votes, as they buy and sell apples, shoes or television sets. The act of vote buying is a contract, or perhaps an auction, in which voters sell their votes to the highest bidder. Parties and candidates who offer material benefits to voters may generally aspire to purchase political support at the ballot box in accordance with the idea of market exchange. Other forms may include offering of employment before elections, giving out of gifts, provision of social infrastructure to communities on the “last minute” and conditional promises to individuals upon the election of a candidate (Hadiza, 2020). Is of the view that political parties employ certain strategies to buy the votes from electorates, the strategies may focus on demobilizing active opponents or on mobilizing passive supporters. The former is often described as “negative” vote buying or “abstention buying”, while the latter may be considered as “participation buying.” These strategies may be intended to refrain electorates from casting their votes or ensure a high turnout but how the parties choose amongst the strategies when offering electoral incentives or buying votes remain a great question (Nnenna et el., 2023).

During the distribution of these ‘goodies’ or ‘freebies,’ political parties and politicians target or consider two specific issues. One of these two major factors political parties consider in buying votes is the type of voter one is identify three types of voters; core supporters, swing voters and opposition backers. Thus, in every electoral system, these three major groups of voters can be identified and they form the persons that are targeted during vote buying. Identify the second factor as they assert that, vote trading propositions may target either electoral choices or electoral participation. They may be intended to persuade individuals to vote in certain ways, or to vote or not to vote in the first place (Nnenna et el., 2023). Existing literature and theoretical perspectives have identified three dominant arguments to explain the foundations of vote buying in elections. First it is argued that socio-economic factors, especially poverty, unemployment and illiteracy play a major role in promoting the market for vote buying and selling in democracies. Second, it is argued that the voting methods in a particular electoral system may also guarantee the predominance of vote buying during elections. The third explanation is predicated upon the belief that vote buying is a product of the nature of partisanship and party organization in a particular state (Musa & Umar, 2022).

Vote buying is frowned upon in every democracy. It raises questions about the quality of democracy. Identify three types of arguments that are usually made against the practice. First, they argue that because vote buying gives wealthier individuals an unfair advantage, it violates the principle of equality. Second, they argue that votes belong to the community as a whole, and should therefore not be alienable by individual voters (Musa & Umar, 2022). Third, there is a concern that votes buying may promote inefficiency. This is because the interests of some voters are bought by parties before the election, and their needs or interests may therefore be ignored by political representatives after the election. Buying of votes is also frowned upon in most economies. This is because once a nation becomes userfriendly to vote buying and vote selling; it ceases to be in the best books of foreign multinational companies seeking to invest in developing countries. The occurrence of vote-buying, understood as incentives or gifts given to voters before elections in exchange for their votes is a corrupt electoral practice (Musa & Umar, 2022). The phenomenon seems to obstruct democratic processes, yet remains pervasive in many developing democracies. Vote buying is a threat to the conduct of quality elections. Electoral fraud, corruption and unfair practices bring the reliability of the electoral process into question. It affects the legitimacy of the elected officials. He adds that the practice often leads to mistrust, violence and conflicts, while robbing citizens of their need for expected peace and development (Nnenna et el., 2023). 

Nigeria has not been an exception to this phenomenon as scholars and election monitors document extensive gift giving in many African elections. A study conducted during the 2019 election campaign in Nigeria found that parliamentary candidates spent an average of 40 percent of their budget on the distribution of material benefits to voters before the day of election. There has been a widespread of this canker in a sense that many Nigeria elections have not been centered on issues or policy accountability (Adam, 2023). This has possible marked consequences for economic development since it is normally done through the giving out of electoral incentives. In a democracy, an election campaign is supposed to be a peaceful and open discourse of persuasion. Ideally, candidates compete for popular support by presenting reasoned arguments about why they are most qualified for election to office. They stake out rival positions about programs of public goods, all the while being tugged towards the median voter at the Centre of the political spectrum. Voters then choose the contender whose policy positions most closely resemble voters’ own set of preferences. Nigeria as a country returned to democratic rule in the year 1999 after years of military rule. A number of political parties have cropped up since then and a number of elections have been conducted in the fourth republic. Two major types of elections are held in Nigeria (Nnenna et el., 2023). These are Presidential, National Assembly and Gubernatorial, State Assembly, Local Government Council elections. Every four years Nigeria goes to the polls to elect a president and members of parliament for the various constituencies in the country. Upon the death or resignation of a member of parliament, bye-elections are held to replace a member of parliament in the course of the four year mandate. All these elections have been fraught with allegations of distribution of electoral incentives that aim at buying the votes of electorates. Vote-buying seem to have become the norm of the day both in the national and internal party elections (Ugwu et al., 2023). The problem stem from the fact that, there is high rate of poverty among the voting populace. This notwithstanding, since ballots are meant to be secret, voters can simply take the incentive and vote as they wish, though it can generate a difficult commitment problem between a vote seller and vote buyer. While the multiparty system is relatively institutionalized, Nigerian elections are competitive and reports of vote buying (the issuing of electoral incentives to voters) surface in every election including internal party elections. Recount that cash and other types of handouts, which are often referred to as “chop money”, are common to political campaigns in Nigeria (Adam, 2023). There are ample evidences that vote buying is real and not imagined in Nigeria. The phenomenon is so widespread in Nigerian politics that from schools, universities to local internal party elections the practice is very common to the extent that some voters sometimes receive gifts from multiple parties. It is alleged that in Nigeria, politicians sometimes attach conditions to these acts of vote buying.

1.2 Statement of the problem

There have been reports that indicate voters who benefit from the electoral incentives are sometimes made to swear in the name of a deity in order to compel voters to honor their part of the agreement. It is also alleged that some voters are also asked to disclose the candidate they voted for with evidence of taking a photo of their ballots before they are paid for compliance. These acts undermine ballot secrecy as enshrined in electoral laws and the constitution of Nigeria. Over the years the country’s democracy has been under serious threats due to illegal activities by politicians to buy the votes of electorates (Eze, 2023). It is widely believed that politicians allocate public resources in ways to maximize political gains. Politicians face intense pressure to provide gifts in exchange for votes. Nigerian politicians face pressure to allocate private benefits to voters, often at great personal expense. Note that voters expect to be showered with gifts as evidence that the candidate genuinely does have the interests of the local people at heart. However, failure to do so sends a negative signal to voters. Political parties in the nation have one way or the other offered incentives to buy votes from electorates. Evidence from pre-election surveys conducted by INEC Nigeria towards the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections as well as other elections in Nigeria suggest that a great deal of vote-buying occur in the days and weeks leading up to the elections (Musa & Umar, 2022). Allegedly, the electoral incentives range from contracts, employment, community projects (such as roads and schools), vehicles, cash, building materials, motor bikes, laptops and others. It is unclear where the funds for these incentives come from but it is perceived that governments use state resources to purchase these incentives and buy votes hence, the high expenditure that exceed government’s planned budget for election years (Ugwu et al., 2023).

Vote buying does not just occur; sometimes electorates demand for the incentives from politicians and sometimes politicians also give to the electorates from their own will. For instance, in Nigeria a group of people might be compelled to ask or request for “chop money” from a visitor (candidate) or someone who visits and declares his/her political ambition and asks for their help or support from the people. Again, opinion leaders, chiefs and elders of localities and communities may take advantage and outline the problems or challenges the community or locality faces such as drinking water, poor roads or school from a candidate for his/her assistance. On the other hand, in other instances in Nigeria, visiting an elderly person with a gift is a cherished value. It signifies acceptance and opens doors of acceptance for the stranger or visitor (Adam, 2023). A visitor presenting a gift to a person or a group of people is a sign of welcome to the visitor. Hence, visiting a person for the first time and presenting him/her with a gift allows the visitor to be given attention and be welcomed. It is upon this premise that sometimes politicians want to present electorates and communities with incentives. Vote buying carries different meanings to different people (Nnenna et el., 2023). These meanings can vary not only by class, but also by religion, ethnicity, levels of education and the like Nigeria practices the universal adult suffrage which allows all qualified adult citizens of sound mind and having attained the age of eighteen years and above the right to vote in all Presidential, Parliamentary Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections. Leading up to these elections, it has always being alleged that Nigerian politicians distribute incentives and gifts including motor bikes, mobile phones, t-shirts, food items and cash to electorates. Certain communities also benefit from “last minute” projects which allegedly include roads, school buildings, electricity and toilet facilities (Nnenna et el., 2023). This practice which is usually called “vote buying” and meant to coerce voters to vote or not vote for certain candidates and political parties is assuming an alarming rate. Despite the prevalence of this phenomenon, understood as the exchange of incentives for votes before elections, it is unclear whether these actually translate into higher votes for the distributing candidate/party or whether there is a relationship between vote buying and the decisions and choices of voters (Adam, 2023). This notwithstanding, there has been ample evidence from pre-election surveys conducted by INEC that candidates do target certain voters with gifts and incentives. This study therefore sought to investigate the menace to vote buying in the 2019 and 2023 Nigerian elections.

1.3 Objective of the study

The broad objective of this study is to examine the menace to vote buying in Nigerian elections, 2019 and 2023 election. Specifically, this study seeks to:

1. Find out the factors responsible for vote buying in the 2019 and 2023 elections in Nigeria.
2. Determine the implications of vote buying in the Nigerian elections.
3. Suggest possible ways to prevent vote buying in Nigerian election.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

1. What are the factors responsible for vote buying in the 2019 and 2023 elections in Nigeria?
2. What are the implications of vote buying in the Nigerian elections?
3. What are the possible ways to prevent vote buying in Nigerian election?

1.5 Significance of the study

The study's findings will assist the electoral body, policymakers, and the government of Nigeria to identify the various factors that is responsible for vote buying during elections and find a way to resolving them. It will expose them to the harm vote buying does on the country and the citizens. This study will also serve as reference material for further research on this topic or related area in the future.

1.6 Scope of the study

Broadly, this study will be focused on the the menace to vote buying in Nigerian elections, 2019 and 2023 election. Specifically, this study focuses only on the 2019 and 2023 elections in Nigeria.

1.7 Limitation of the study

The researchers encountered minor obstacles when conducting the study, as with any human endeavor. The significant constraint was the scarcity of literature on the subject due to the nature of the discourse, so the researcher incurred more financial expenses and spent more time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information and in the data collection process, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. Also, the researcher did this investigation alongside other academic activities. Furthermore, the sample size was limited because only a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, therefore the results cannot be generalized to everyone in the country. Despite the constraints encountered during the research, all elements were minimized in order to provide the best results and make the research effective.

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