ABSTRACT
This study conceptualizes vote buying as when candidates or political parties offer material or monetary incentives to voters in exchange for their support throughout the campaign trail and/or on election day. Rather of being supported by administrative funds or other public goods, the material or financial incentives are paid for by private sources. The distribution of incentives among party or candidate supporters to boost turnout is also included. In addition to targeting a specific group of supporters, this tactic also involves the opposing tactic of offering incentives to rival candidates' supporters to forgo voting; this tactic is known as "negative vote buying" or "abstention buying" (Schaffer and Schedler 2007). The vote-buying tactics discussed here concerned a voter's readiness to take a bribe in exchange for their vote or abstain from voting for a particular candidate under duress, such as threats or intimidation. Additionally, this study did not examine vote-buying techniques associated with absentee voting, such as postal voting; instead, it concentrated on individuals casting their ballots in polling places. In the Nigerian context, this study examined vote buying syndrome with a view to unravelling the issues, causes, effects and solutions to it. The study examined this context under four broad research questions: What are the causes of vote buying in Nigeria? Who are the actors involved in chain of vote buying in Nigeria? What are the implications of vote buying on electoral process in Nigeria? What solutions can be proffered to tame vote buying syndrome in Nigeria? As found in the study, vote buying is motivated by a variety of non-political motivations. These elements impact either the "supply side"—political actors' decisions to buy votes—or the "demand side"—voters' willingness to buy votes—or both. One of the supply-side causes of vote buying is politicians' attempts to build a clientelist connection with their voters by providing special privileges in exchange for political allegiance. Vote buying may be made possible by the electoral system, especially if it features single-member districts or encourages intraparty rivalry between candidates running in the same electoral district. This could encourage candidates to use their own unique electoral techniques. Voters may also encourage vote buying if they anticipate receiving cash, gifts, or other favours from candidates running for public office, which they may view as a source of income. Although vote buying stems from competitive electoral processes, social and economic divisions within society are frequently included. The main causes of voters' readiness to accept perks in return for their vote are social exclusion and poverty. Purchasing the votes of the impoverished is less expensive for political players because the same financial incentive is probably more useful to them than to their richer counterparts. Socio-economic factors such as unemployment, poverty, hunger and starvation, lack of basic social amenities and illiteracy as promoting the market of vote buying in Nigeria. The type of a system where voting operates as orchestrating vote buying. Voting buying is a product of party system operational in a particular system. Additionally, these voters might be more politically marginalized, which makes them more likely to downplay the advantages of future gains that are the focus of programming election campaigns. Another thing to think about is that people who don't care about politics or civic ideals are perhaps more likely to accept proposals to buy votes. Certain voters consent to electoral favours because it aligns with their social justice beliefs. The social norm of gift-giving, in which a valuable object is given without a clear agreement on immediate rewards but with some expectation of reciprocity, may also be the source of acceptance of vote-buying. Vote buying is also significantly facilitated by systemic flaws, such as weak legislation, inadequate oversight of secret ballots, or ineffective enforcement of laws against the practice. It is for this reason that some have identified other factors such as the introduction of technology in elections, the winner-takes-it all syndrome of Nigerian politicians, security votes and the meddlesomeness of the Military. On the other hand, the study found that perpetuation of corruption, engenderment of underdevelopment, voter apathy, electoral violence, democracy de-consolidation and delegitimization of political leadership are some of the consequences of vote buying in Nigeria.
