Voting exchange in the general elections in Nigeria
The two evils that research has shown to be malignant tumors that affect the credibility of elections in Nigeria are violence and vote buying which I have chosen to call vote trading because it involves both buyers and sellers. It is important to note that many people suspected that the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes by the outgoing administration through the Central Bank of Nigeria was aimed at preventing vote trading in the 2023 elections. In his national broadcast on February 16, 2023, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retired) acknowledged this when he stated, among other things, in paragraphs 21 and 22, that "I am aware that this new monetary policy also contributed enormously to minimization". the influence of money in politics. This is a positive change from the past and represents a bold step on the part of this administration to lay a solid foundation for free and fair elections. Has politics really stemmed vote trading?
Sections 121 and 127 of the Electoral Act 2022 are notably among the laws against vote buying in Nigeria. Section 121 calls it bribery and conspiracy and it states among other things that: 121.—(1) Any person who does any of the following - (a) directly or indirectly, by himself or any other person on his or her behalf corruptly makes any gift, loan, offer, promise, purchase or agreement to or for any person, in order to induce that person to procure or endeavor to obtain the return of any person as a member of a legislative chamber or to elective office or the vote of any elector at any election; Subsection (4) states: "Anyone who commits a corruption offense shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 500,000 naira or imprisonment for 12 months or both."< /p>
Section 127 states: "A person who - (a) corruptly by himself or any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, gives or directly or indirectly provides or provides or pays money to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or abstain from voting at any such election, or because of such person or any other person having voted or abstaining from voting at such election; or (b) being an elector, accepts or corruptly takes money or any other inducement during any of the periods specified in paragraph (a), commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both. and the recipient are both criminally liable.
Before and during the February 25 and March 18 general elections, several ways were devised by desperate politicians to entice voters to vote. Besides monetary or cash gifts, many were influenced by gifts such as food items, clothes and a sudden act of charity from the political class. The All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate for the March 18 gubernatorial election in Enugu State and former Minister of Information and Culture, Chief Frank Nweke Jr., alleged on Friday 24 march during a press conference that “the most vulnerable and poorest have fallen prey to vote buying by some political parties with as little as N500 or packets of noodles in some places. In Udenu, parties We were vying for our people's votes with 2,000 naira, a plate of jollof rice, okpa and a bottle of soda.”
The Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Development, Idayat Hassan, while reading the Center's preliminary report on the 2023 general elections on March 18, said that data from his 1 500 observers deployed across the country showed that there were more instances of vote buying in the governorate election compared to the February 25 presidential poll.
According to her, this reality is reflected in the six geopolitical zones. “In the Northwest, observers in all seven states reported an increase in reports of vote-trading, primarily by political party agents. The money was used along with other materials such as food items, packaging and "credit vouchers", and these items would be exchanged after the results. Similarly, in the Northeast, political party operatives in Taraba infiltrated queues, posed as voters and used the opportunity to offer money in exchange for votes. In the South East, APGA and LP party agents used equipment, phones and other memorabilia to lure voters into Anambra State. In the South-South, several states reported that voters wanted to show proof of their vote before being paid, as party agents compiled a list of their voters in Esan Central LGA in the state of Edo. »
Yiaga Africa, another civil society organization, said it recorded and confirmed 15 cases of vote buying and corruption in eight states during gubernatorial elections. Chief Ezenwa Nwagu, a member of the organization's board of directors, speaking to the press on the group's preliminary findings, said v...
The two evils that research has shown to be malignant tumors that affect the credibility of elections in Nigeria are violence and vote buying which I have chosen to call vote trading because it involves both buyers and sellers. It is important to note that many people suspected that the redesign of the N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes by the outgoing administration through the Central Bank of Nigeria was aimed at preventing vote trading in the 2023 elections. In his national broadcast on February 16, 2023, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retired) acknowledged this when he stated, among other things, in paragraphs 21 and 22, that "I am aware that this new monetary policy also contributed enormously to minimization". the influence of money in politics. This is a positive change from the past and represents a bold step on the part of this administration to lay a solid foundation for free and fair elections. Has politics really stemmed vote trading?
Sections 121 and 127 of the Electoral Act 2022 are notably among the laws against vote buying in Nigeria. Section 121 calls it bribery and conspiracy and it states among other things that: 121.—(1) Any person who does any of the following - (a) directly or indirectly, by himself or any other person on his or her behalf corruptly makes any gift, loan, offer, promise, purchase or agreement to or for any person, in order to induce that person to procure or endeavor to obtain the return of any person as a member of a legislative chamber or to elective office or the vote of any elector at any election; Subsection (4) states: "Anyone who commits a corruption offense shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 500,000 naira or imprisonment for 12 months or both."< /p>
Section 127 states: "A person who - (a) corruptly by himself or any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, gives or directly or indirectly provides or provides or pays money to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or abstain from voting at any such election, or because of such person or any other person having voted or abstaining from voting at such election; or (b) being an elector, accepts or corruptly takes money or any other inducement during any of the periods specified in paragraph (a), commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both. and the recipient are both criminally liable.
Before and during the February 25 and March 18 general elections, several ways were devised by desperate politicians to entice voters to vote. Besides monetary or cash gifts, many were influenced by gifts such as food items, clothes and a sudden act of charity from the political class. The All Progressives Grand Alliance candidate for the March 18 gubernatorial election in Enugu State and former Minister of Information and Culture, Chief Frank Nweke Jr., alleged on Friday 24 march during a press conference that “the most vulnerable and poorest have fallen prey to vote buying by some political parties with as little as N500 or packets of noodles in some places. In Udenu, parties We were vying for our people's votes with 2,000 naira, a plate of jollof rice, okpa and a bottle of soda.”
The Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Development, Idayat Hassan, while reading the Center's preliminary report on the 2023 general elections on March 18, said that data from his 1 500 observers deployed across the country showed that there were more instances of vote buying in the governorate election compared to the February 25 presidential poll.
According to her, this reality is reflected in the six geopolitical zones. “In the Northwest, observers in all seven states reported an increase in reports of vote-trading, primarily by political party agents. The money was used along with other materials such as food items, packaging and "credit vouchers", and these items would be exchanged after the results. Similarly, in the Northeast, political party operatives in Taraba infiltrated queues, posed as voters and used the opportunity to offer money in exchange for votes. In the South East, APGA and LP party agents used equipment, phones and other memorabilia to lure voters into Anambra State. In the South-South, several states reported that voters wanted to show proof of their vote before being paid, as party agents compiled a list of their voters in Esan Central LGA in the state of Edo. »
Yiaga Africa, another civil society organization, said it recorded and confirmed 15 cases of vote buying and corruption in eight states during gubernatorial elections. Chief Ezenwa Nwagu, a member of the organization's board of directors, speaking to the press on the group's preliminary findings, said v...
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