Vote Buying and Elections: The Case of Ekiti 2022 Gubernatorial Election

Abstract

Vote buying, a direct market interaction where voters provide their votes for money is one of the reinforcing variables in Nigeria’s political corrupt practices, with its negative impact on the country’s democratic space. This paper examines the dynamics and operational strategies of voting in the electoral process, using the 2022 Ekiti Governorship Election as area of study. Primary data were generated from self-administered questionnaire to 410 participants cutting across the sixteen local governments. This was supplemented with secondary data that came from election observers and other archival materials. Findings revealed the predominance and prevalence of vote buying cutting across the sixteen local governments involving the three major political parties. The transaction was at two major periods. The pre-election time when candidates and their agents reached out to the electorates at their ward/community level with cash and other consumable items. On Election Day, it was operation see and buy, with voters flagging finished ballot papers as proof of voting and sometimes cash collecting in brown packets, to escape prosecution. The paper recommends strict compliance to electoral regulations by actors in the electoral process, beefing up security architecture to arrest and prosecute violators of electoral offence of vote buying. Voter education by relevant government agencies, mass media and religious organizations.