Vote Buying in the 2018 Governorship Election in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper aims to comment on the manifestation of vote buying regarding voter turnout and voter choices in the 2018 Ekiti governorship election in Nigeria and its implications. The article notes that vote-buying might not have significantly influenced voter turnout, but it changed voters’ choices as the two major political parties in the election resorted to a massive monetary inducement for electoral support at the poll. Even though the election was decided by secret balloting, the advent of “see and buy” shows that politicians are stepping up their games to manipulate elections. The paper thus argues for institutional electoral reform and strengthening the enforcement of the law.

COVID-19 pandemic and political participation in Lagos, Nigeria

“…In China, Zhong et al ( 2020 ) indicate that most Chinese residents of a reasonably high SES, particularly women, are well-informed about COVID-19, have optimistic mindsets, and have proper practices towards COVID-19. The variable measuring economic well-being, i.e., income, affirm the established notion in Africa, which indicate that individuals with a higher SES tend not to vote more, e.g., Kuenzi and Lambright 2007 ; Nwankwo and Okafor 2017 ) because lower SES voters are encouraged to vote because they can get paid for voting a party in the election (Nwankwo and Okafor 2017 ; Nwankwo 2018 ).…”

“…The paper investigates the relationships between COVID-19 and voter turnout in Nigeria. Examining the determinants of voter turnout in Nigeria is pertinent because even though Nigeria is Africa's largest democracy (Nwankwo 2018 ), it has witnessed a consistent decline in voter turnout since 2003 (Nwankwo 2019 ). Since the "rule by the people" is the fundamental principle of democracy, it thus makes sense that higher levels of voter turnout confer legitimacy on the election and hence a measure of a democracy's performance (Nwankwo and Okafor 2017 ; Kuenzi and Lambright 2007 ).…”

Determinants of voter turnout in Nsukka Council of Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria

“…However, low voter turnout frequently means that there is unequal participation, in which participation is lopsided against those with lower socio-economic status (Lijphart, 1997). Voting is increasingly becoming of great significance in Nigeria, as in many other countries in Africa, because elections are the means to attain positions of power and the distribution of a state's resources (Nwankwo, 2018).…”

“…The study of factors in voter turnout in Nigeria is of great importance because despite being Africa's largest democracy, with over 180 million people (Nwankwo, 2018), voter turnout in Nigeria's recent elections, as shown in Fig. 1, has decreased steadily since 2003 .…”

The spatial pattern of voter choice homogeneity in the Nigerian presidential elections of the fourth republic

“…The return of democratic rule in 1999 after many years of military intervention has meant that electoral processes and outcomes have been essential subjects of scholarly inquiry. Research on Nigerian elections have often focused on the electoral process (Omotola, 2007;Omodia, 2009;Adeoti, Olaniyan, 2014), electoral malpractices such as vote buying, violence and rigging (Bratton, 2008;Collier, Vicente, 2014;Onopajo et al, 2015;Nwankwo, 2018), the history of electoral politics in Nigeria (Agbaje Adejumobi, 2006), electoral violence (Collier, Vicente, 2014;Angerbrandt, 2018), electoral participation and voter turnout (Omotola, Aiyedogbon, 2012;Nwankwo, Okafor, Asuoha, 2017;, and voter apathy (Agu et al, 2013;Falade, 2014;Taiwo, Ahmed, 2015). The analysis of factors influencing voter choices has, however, received relatively little attention.…”