Menace Of Vote Buying In Nigeria

For me, the high point of the just-concluded Anambra State governorship election was the rejection of money by some women, allegedly offered for their votes. These women were seen in a video clip telling the politicians and party agents of a certain political party to go with their money, that they did not want the party because it had dealt with them.
For several years, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the media and many other bodies have carried out voter education, enlightenment and sensitisation campaigns on the dangers of vote buying and vote selling and the need for the electorate not to sell their votes to desperate politicians,
Putting the issue of money politics in Nigeria succinctly, Oupa Lucky of University of South Africa, in an article titled, ‘Money Politics and Vote Buying in Nigeria: the Bane of Good Governance,’ said, “Obviously in Nigeria, money politics and Vote Buying have taken the centre stage in our political activities. This is because parties and candidates have shown, by their conduct during political campaigns, that good party manifestos and integrity of candidates jostling for public offices are no longer sufficient to guarantee electoral success. Thus, the resort to vote-buying. On the other hand, the voters also have obviously demonstrated cynical electoral behaviour by the readiness to sell their votes to the highest bidder.”
So for these rural, not-rich-looking women to have refused to sell their votes for some Naira notes even when they could have collected the money and gone ahead to cast their votes for their preferred candidates, as many do, shows that the voter education exercises are yielding good results. This significant, laudable act of Ebenebe women in Awka shows that Nigerian voters are wiser and better informed today than they were some years back, and that is a sign of better days ahead for the country.
Some people have argued that this is just an isolated case; that thousands of voters before and during that same election collected money and other items from politicians and that must have helped to sway their votes towards some contestants. But let us not forget that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. All the revolutions that happened in history were never initiated or carried out by the generality of the people. Many times, only a handful of people engineered it.
These Awka women have shown that a complete revolution is possible without guns, bloodshed or battle. They have shown that we can create a better society and choose our desired leaders by using our votes wisely. As the saying goes, the power and the will are in the hands of the masses. The 2023 General Elections are around the corner, are we going to see the electorate who will toe the line of these women and refuse to sell their mandates for whatever form of inducement and insist on giving their votes to people who will bring the much desired change in the country? Are we going to see electorate who can bluntly and fearlessly tell their representatives at whatever level, who have not performed well that, “we don’t want you, you have not been good to us and go ahead and vote for better candidates, even if they have no money to share?
Is it possible to see Nigerian youth during future elections in the country, refuse to be used as thugs, killers and so on by disheartened, selfish and greedy politicians who shield their children from danger and expose the children of the poor? The women of Ebenebe have shown Nigerians, particularly the youth the way to go, so they will have a better country tomorrow. It is high time every Nigerian knew and stood for their rights.
However, the citizens’ efforts towards stamping out the criminal act of vote buying may not produce the needed result if actions are not taken by the authorities against those who commit the crime.  Article 130 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, states that: A person who — (a) corruptly by himself or by any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, directly or indirectly gives 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 refrain from voting at such election, or on account of such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting at such election; or (b) being a voter, corruptly accepts or takes money or any other inducement during any of the period stated in paragraph (a) of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both.
Similarly, Section VIII (e) of the 2018 Revised Code of Conduct for Political Parties in section provides that, “… all political parties and their agents shall not engage in the following practice: buying of votes or offer any bribe, gift, reward, gratification or any other monetary or material considerations or allurement to voters and electoral officials”.
Incidentally, despite all these provisions, vote buying continues to thrive in Nigeria without any action being seen to be taken against the perpetrators, including the persons directly involved in the act and their sponsors.
In the Ebenebe women’s video under review, a police officer was seen at the scene but he did not arrest the two young men with bundles of money for sharing.  We cannot continue to have a country where laws are churned out every day by both federal and state legislators aimed at checking the ills in the society but they are hardly implemented. Some of the perpetrators of this crime must be arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.  

By: Calista Ezeaku