Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 and has conducted 6 general elections. According to experts, out of these 6 general elections, none has been reported to meet both the local and International standards because they were ‘fraught with high levels of irregularities and voter fraud’.
As a result of voter fraud alongside other factors, Nigeria’s elections have always been rated poorly. This has also led to loss of confidence in the electoral processes and to a large extent, political apathy, particularly on the part of the youths who form a larger part of the country’s voting population.
One of the major elements of the electoral process is that elections must be conducted in a free and fair atmosphere and the electoral results should reflect the wishes of the people.
But a close review of the country’s last 6 general elections may have not fully reflected this given the atmosphere in which they were conducted and the reported level of electoral/voter fraud.
As the country prepares for the 2023 general election, Dataphyte examines voter fraud in Nigeria and draws the electorates and critical stakeholders’ attention to them as the country prepares for the next polls.
Electoral fraud is simply an illegal interference with the process of election that thwarts the mandate of the people.
In Nigeria, this happens in different ways. From vote buying to under age voting, snatching of ballots and/or results before or after elections to favour a particular party/candidate, intimidation at the polls using militant gangs or even state security, among others.
All of these have had a negative impact on electoral participation among Nigerians, particularly the youths. Jahdiel and Amaka’s story of apathy during the 2019 elections comes to mind.
Vote Buying
In the last 6 general elections conducted, vote buying has been reported at each election. Vote buying, which is the act of offering of money or other goods or favours in exchange for the vote of a voter in elections, has grown steadily with each successive election despite its criminalisation in Section 130 of the Electoral Act, 2010.
This act takes place at multiple stages of the electoral cycle; from the voter registration period to campaigns up to the election day. Cash, foodstuff, clothes and other souvenirs are some of the commonest items used.
According to Onuoha and Ojo, vote buying is more predominant during election day, either shortly before or during vote casting.
For keen observers, this is a common trend during elections in Nigeria. In fact, in every election cycle, pictures and videos of politicians buying votes from citizens surface online. Hunger and increasing poverty in the country have provided a loophole for politicians to weaponise.
Olamide, a Lagos resident and a first time voter in the 2015 general election told Dataphyte that he experienced vote buying firsthand.
“I became eligible to vote in 2015. I registered in Lagos and my polling unit was in Lekki-Ikate. While on the queue waiting to cast my votes, a man approached me and told me I should vote for a particular party and he will give me N1,500”, said Olamide.
When asked if he collected the money, the Lagos resident emphatically said no. “I know my worth and as an educated person, I know the consequences of doing such, so I told him clearly that I will not sell my vote”, he noted.
He however explained that some electorates collected the money being offered at the polling unit.
There are several reports of people who sell their votes for lesser amounts.
YIAGA Africa reported that in 2019, some voters in Bayelsa and Kogi states traded their permanent voters’ cards (PVC) for as low N500 and N1,000 ahead of the governorship elections in the states.
While vote buying is very common today in Nigeria, Onuoha and Ojo explained that the act predates Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. The duo stated that vote buying was rife during the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential primary in Jos in 1992 and the 1993 presidential poll. They even highlighted it as one of the reasons for the annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential poll.
The act of vote buying is still very much around as seen during the recent governorship elections conducted in Anambra and Edo states, there were media reports of voting buying.
While vote buying transcends locality – urban and rural areas, it is however more prevalent in rural areas.
A survey conducted on the 2019 election by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that a larger share of people living in rural areas are offered money or a favour in exchange for their vote than in urban areas.
The prevalence is also higher in men than women. The same 2019 NBS survey revealed more men (23.1%) were offered bribes for their vote in 2019, while it was 18.8% for women.
Surprisingly, those who are self-employed with dependent employees, self-employed without employees and private and public sector employees are more targeted for vote buying than unemployed people.
According to the NBS survey, the prevalence of vote buying among self-employed citizens with dependent employees was 23.4%, and those without employees was 23%. Private and public sector employees stood at 22.5% and 22% respectively. On the other hand, unemployed people recorded 20.9%
Explaining the reason for higher prevalence among self-employed with or without dependent employees and public and private sector employees, the NBS noted that they are targeted more often than others, due to their potentially greater socio-economic influence.
Underage Voting
While this may not be so common in urban areas, it is rampant in the rural areas with zero or minimal media attention.
In many remote places in the country, politicians sometimes intimidate and bribe electoral officials to allow children who are ineligible to cast their vote.
Several cases of this have been reported in many parts of the country. It was reported in the 2021 Kano local government elections, in Osun and Ekiti state in 2014, in Plateau state local government elections held in 2014 and other parts of the country.
An anonymous resident of Delta State told Dataphyte that he has witnessed underage voting in his community in Delta state,
Narrating his experience, he told Dataphyte that “I am not proud to say this but when I was 13 years old during the 2007 election, I remember that I and my friends voted in that election. Other children who were the same age group as me also voted”.
In many rural areas, this is a common practice. Although a crime, which electoral officials are fully aware of, for safety of their lives, they are sometimes forced to comply with the communities in carrying out this act.
In 2018, Prof. Lai Olurode, a former INEC National Commissioner, confirmed instances of underage voting.
According to him “There are certain areas of this country where even if they know the person is a kid, they will insist that the child must vote. I had to run for my life at one of the election centres in a part of the country because these people said children must vote or there would be no election at all. It is that bad.”
This is one of the several ways voter fraud is carried out in the country.
Voter/Electoral Officials Intimidation and Ballot Snatching
Another common way electoral fraud happens in Nigeria is through voter intimidation; a strategy that has been employed over the years by politicians in keeping those likely to vote for opponents away from the polls.
While in most instances political thugs are the ones that perpetuate this act, security personnel have also been fingered to carry out this act.
In instances where this is pulled off successfully, (intimidation of voters and INEC officials), the ballot boxes are often snatched and taken away with INEC officials running for their lives or sometimes whisked away with election materials to undisclosed locations.
Several reports of this abound. There is hardly any election in Nigeria where such acts have not been reported. It happened in the 2011 and 2015 elections. In the 2019 general election, an occurrence of this was also reported.
The 2023 general election is less than 381 days away. As citizens and civil society groups continue to encourage those eligible voters to get their PVC in preparation for the polls, more electoral education may need to be done in enlightening the public on the various forms of electoral frauds and implications to the development of the country’s electoral processes and democracy as a whole.