Political engagements with the Nigerian electorate, once defined by rigorous campaigns and comprehensive manifestoes detailing candidates’ agendas, are witnessing a sharp decline.
This shift, The Guardian investigation has revealed, is largely due to political parties allocating increasing funds to vote-buying rather than issue-based campaigns.
Unlike in the First and Second Republics, where robust and intensive campaigns shaped candidates’ reception and bolstered their chances of success, election outcomes are now predominantly swayed by the amount of cash offered to voters.
According to findings by The Guardian, political parties are responding to a changed electorate expectation—one that prioritises immediate inducements over civil engagement and substantive discourse on economic and social issues.
Voters are no longer selecting candidates based on manifestoes or agendas; instead, decisions are heavily influenced by candidates’ financial reserves and, in some cases, by primordial sentiments such as religion and ethnicity.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) raised concerns over the prevalence of inducement and vote-buying in the 2023 general elections and the recent Edo State governorship election, alleging that elections are increasingly won by the highest bidders.
In Edo for instance, the governor-elect, Monday Okpebholo, didn’t grant media interviews or participate in debates before the election.Former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the current Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, said the taciturn nature of Okpebholo “worked for him during the September 21, 2024 governorship election”, adding that “television interviews are exaggerated and that the APC cannot compel its candidate (Okpebholo) to grant media chats”.
Similarly, despite the Electoral Act 2022 allowing for a 150-day campaign period to enable parties and candidates to communicate their policies to the electorate, it has become rare for any party to campaign for more than a month.
As the November 16 off-cycle election in Ondo State approaches, political parties have only recently commenced their campaigns, though they were officially permitted to start on June 19, 2024.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) began its campaign on October 12, followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on October 15, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on October 17.
The Labour Party (LP) launched its campaign on October 26, while other parties have yet to initiate any official campaign activities with less than two weeks remaining before the election.
For both the APC and PDP, campaign schedules show plans to cover all communities in each of the state’s 18 local council areas in a single day, often involving convoys passing through communities late into the night, leaving minimal opportunity to inform voters of their programmes.
A notable feature of this campaign approach is that party supporters are often observed dancing through towns and distributing branded caps and shirts, with party manifestoes, which would typically communicate intended policies, conspicuously absent.
This campaign approach has raised concerns over the strategies employed by political parties to secure votes beyond the presentation of their manifestoes.
The vote-buying trend, which significantly undermined the credibility of the recent general elections at both national and local levels, has similarly affected elections for local councils and councillor positions across the country.
An investigation by The Guardian further reveals that political parties have refined their cash-for-votes strategies to ensure funds are disbursed only to individuals who vote for their candidates—a method now known as “see and buy.”
A credible source in one of the leading parties in Ondo State confided in The Guardian, “We don’t just give our agents money; they account for every kobo spent. During our strategy meetings, we know how many votes we anticipate from each polling unit based on our strength in that unit.
“Let’s say we need at least 150 votes from a particular polling unit; funds for those 150 votes, say N10,000, will be given to the party coordinator at that unit. He gives money only to those who voted for us, and the number of votes he receives cannot be less than the amount he spent. We know some will vote for us without collecting money.
“We also have five vote-canvassers at each polling unit who go to various homes to convince people to come out and vote for our party. They are like marketers, and they are handsomely rewarded if they meet their target. So, elections nowadays go beyond what you see. This strategy has been working for us since 2011.”
Speaking on the implications of political parties neglecting to engage the electorate on their agendas, Dare Olaitan, a resident of Ondo and a political analyst, warned that a vote-buying strategy could have severe consequences for the electoral landscape.
He stated that when parties prioritise financial inducements over political engagement, it can lead to a poorly informed electorate and a distortion of the democratic process.
The Justice Development and Peace Maker Centre (JDPMC) in Osogbo, Osun State, noted that political parties are spending more on vote-buying than on campaigns.
Festus Ojewunmi, the Programme Manager of the centre, revealed that politicians rarely engage prospective voters, noting that the 2022 electoral law stipulates N1 billion as the maximum spending limit for any political party in a gubernatorial election.
Ojewunmi, who also coordinates the EU-SDGN Project, which focuses on promoting inclusive, participatory, and accountable democratic governance in Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo States, highlighted that recent elections in the region and other states indicate a troubling trend of vote-buying within the electoral system.
He said, “Politicians are spending a lot on campaigns, but they spend more on vote-buying. Our previous vote-buying tracking revealed this in 2016 and 2020, especially in Ondo State. We have figures that state the estimated amount of vote-buying that transpired in 2020, and at the same time, we are watching closely to see what transpires in the forthcoming 2024 Ondo State gubernatorial election.
He continued, “Our institutions are very weak. During the last Edo gubernatorial election, we saw the EFCC going out to make arrests, but after that day, we never heard anything further. And this is not new; in previous elections, vote buyers and sellers were arrested, but there has not been any prosecution, which is why people continue to indulge in it because they know nothing will come of it.”
A stalwart of Lagos PDP, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, noted that the trend started in 1999 but worsened under the ruling APC in 2019. He said that was when political parties began to shift from campaigning to vote-buying.
He noted that out of over 90 million people registered to vote in 2023, only 29.9 million eventually voted, which was just about 30 per cent of the registered voters. He also mentioned that a mere 22.4 per cent of the total registered voters in Edo actually came out to vote.
Pearse further alleged that vote-buying became rampant under the incumbent chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmud Yakubu. He said the National Assembly should amend the Constitution to reform INEC completely if the vote-buying problem is to be addressed.
A chieftain of APC in Osun State, Professor Liad Tella, attributed the issue to the lack of party ideology in Nigeria. He said both the ruling APC and the major opposition PDP are almost identical in character.
He stated, “They don’t have any manifestos or programmes, and therefore, the best option is to go for vote-buying.” Tella also criticised the electorate, whom he said compromised their future for stipends. “The democracy we run is faulty; otherwise, how does one explain the incumbent Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja placing one leg in APC and the other in PDP? This shows there is no ideological party.”
A former presidential spokesman under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Olusanya Awosan, said that Nigeria should not expect any constructive campaign from any political party until the current democratic system is redefined and restructured.
Awosan also said there is little chance that Nigerians would stop accepting money for their votes. According to him, “If Americans found themselves in the situation Nigerians are in, I can bet you they would compromise anything, including their votes. Nigerian politicians have created an atmosphere where the people have lost their sense of value. And it was deliberate.”
Board Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, lamented the detrimental impact of vote-buying on the polity, saying it can only be addressed if the National Assembly introduces electronic voting into the system.
He explained that vote-buying has deeply infiltrated the country’s electoral process and will be difficult to eradicate given the prevailing poverty and hunger in the country.
“It is a cankerworm that has eaten deeply into our electoral system, and it is a tragedy,” he explained. On how to overcome it, Okorie suggested that the National Assembly should be patriotic enough to ensure votes count by approving electronic voting for the country.
“This means you don’t have to go to the polling unit to cast your vote. You don’t need to be where people will see that you have come with cash to influence others.
You don’t need to shut down the economy. People can conduct their business and vote at the same time, as we see in developed democracies.
“When you do that, the number of participants will be almost 85 per cent of registered voters. I can assure you that nobody, no matter how much they have, will have enough resources to reach that number.
“So when people realise that winning an election depends on the electorate, they will be forced to start campaigning,” he suggested. Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ezike, noted that the implications of vote-buying on the polity are enormous, resulting in not only bad but incompetent leadership that feels no obligation to the people.
“However, it has gone from bad to worse because now, they don’t only buy votes; they buy security agents, they buy INEC, and they buy judges. “They will say, ‘go to court,’ and in those courts are judges on their payroll. What we have today is a legion of corrupt leaders. It is a very dangerous trend.
“Since 2015, we have not seen good governance in the country—a situation where the President is both Minister of Petroleum and the President of Nigeria, yet even that has not worked,” he said.
Ezike added: “Our security agents should help address the situation by prosecuting those found guilty of vote-buying. They should live and work according to the rules of engagement to end this harmful trend that threatens the country’s democracy.”
For its part, the Conference of United Political Parties (CUPP) attributed the prevalence of vote-buying to the high poverty rate among Nigerians. CUPP’s National Secretary, Chief Peter Ameh, argued that with over 87 million people living below the poverty line, vulnerable electorates are susceptible to selling their votes for immediate financial relief.
This situation, according to CUPP, enables politicians to offer money, food, or other incentives in exchange for votes, thereby undermining the credibility of elections and perpetuating poverty and inequality.
CUPP further contended that when politicians purchase votes, they lack accountability to the people, leading to poor governance and ineffective public services. It noted that politicians’ desperation to win elections at all costs drives them to invest heavily in vote-buying, often using illicit funds.
To counter this troubling trend, CUPP emphasised the need for urgent reforms, including stricter campaign finance regulations, enhanced voter education and awareness, and stronger accountability mechanisms.
It said, “Vote-buying is indeed more prevalent among political parties with access to state funds in Nigeria. This is because these parties have more resources at their disposal, which they can use to buy votes and influence the outcome of elections.
“The lack of effective campaign finance regulations and accountability mechanisms in Nigeria’s electoral system makes it easier for politicians to embezzle funds meant for public services and redirect them towards vote-buying.
“Saving Nigeria’s democracy requires collective action from citizens, politicians, and institutions to reject vote-buying and promote free, fair, and credible elections. Nigerians must demand more from their leaders and hold them accountable for their actions.
“The Electoral Act must be amended to provide stiffer penalties for vote-buying and related offences. The future of Nigeria’s democracy hangs in the balance. It is time for Nigerians to reclaim their electoral process and ensure that their votes count, rather than being bought and sold like commodities.”
Also, Dr Adebukola Ayoola, Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations at Koladaisi University, Ibadan, remarked that the only explanation for politicians’ current approach is the widespread perception that votes do not genuinely count in Nigeria. As a result, many politicians see little sense in producing manifestoes or outlining agendas that do not truly exist, as they lack a genuine plan for the people.
He said, “On the other hand, there is the mindset and orientation of the majority of the people. Besides having lost faith in the electioneering process, poverty has taken hold, making people rely on handouts from politicians as the only means of getting their share of the national cake.
“Many voters subscribe to vote-buying on Election Day for immediate relief from hunger, even knowing that the vote-buyer has nothing to offer them. The situation is worse because many voters would rather sell their votes to politicians with the highest bid, even if they have no agenda than vote for a credible candidate with a clear agenda. That is the level to which our system has degenerated.”
However, the Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Dhikru Adewale Yagboyaju, argued that the claim that political parties set aside funds for vote-buying remains an allegation until proven.
Nevertheless, he said the apparent indifference of political parties towards documented manifestoes and blueprints is disturbing and calls for concern and purposeful action.
He added, “Incidentally, ideas for development do not reside with the wealthy alone. Moreover, it is dangerous if unregulated money politics is funded from dubious sources, implying that questionable characters may be allowed to hold governmental powers.”
(Guardian)
