Vote buying in Nigeria : an assessment of the 2007 general elections

Abstract

Nigeria's electoral process has been confronted with daunting and enormous challenges which bedevil the conduct of elections considered free, fair and acceptable both within the country and internationally. But a more crucial problem in Nigeria's electoral system is that of vote buying (and vote selling). This study exposes the nature of vote buying (and selling) as a form of electoral malpractice whose root causes may be linked to illiteracy, poverty and a zero-sum game of political exclusion. Overall, Nigeria needs to fight illiteracy, poverty and the practice of constitutional engineering if it is to be able to hold credible elections.