As technology made it harder to rig results after voting, observers noticed a shift: more effort going into buying votes before and at the polling unit. Vote buying is now one of the main concerns of election observers in Nigeria, especially in off-cycle governorship elections.
How vote buying works
Vote buying takes several forms:
- Cash at the polling unit. Party agents pay voters near the polling unit, often between ₦2,000 and ₦10,000 according to observer reports.
- “See and buy”. The voter shows an agent how they marked their ballot, sometimes by photographing it, and is paid afterwards.
- Gifts and food parcels. Rice, cash transfers or other items distributed before election day in exchange for a promise of support.
- Buying PVCs. Agents buy voters’ cards in opposition strongholds so they cannot vote at all.
What the law says
The Electoral Act makes vote buying an offence for both the person who pays and the voter who accepts. A person convicted faces a fine of up to ₦500,000, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both. It is also an offence to buy or sell a voter’s card, and to use a phone to photograph your marked ballot inside the voting cubicle.
In practice, convictions are rare. The police and the EFCC have made arrests on election day, but few cases end in prosecution, and civil society groups have long called for an Electoral Offences Commission to handle them.
Where observers have seen it
- Ekiti 2018: domestic and international observers reported widespread cash payments to voters, and both main parties accused each other.
- Kogi and Bayelsa 2019 and Ondo 2024: civil society groups reported open payments to voters, sometimes in the presence of security officials. The Ondo 2024 governorship election also recorded the lowest turnout in the state since 1999.
- 2023 general elections: the cash shortage caused by the naira redesign was partly justified as a way to limit vote buying.
Selling your vote can cost you your freedom. It also hands power to people who have already treated your vote as something to buy.
How to report it safely
- Do not confront anyone who is paying voters.
- If it is safe, tell the police or EFCC officials at the polling unit.
- Note the time, place and what you saw, and report it on elect.ng. We never publish reporters’ names.
