The Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticized the House of Representatives for its failure to criminalize vote-buying during party primaries, characterizing the move as a blow to Nigeria’s democratic progress.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, the former Anambra State governor remarked that Nigerians had anticipated a strong stance from lawmakers against the practice of trading votes for money.
Obi highlighted that while vote-buying is a significant hurdle to fair elections, these expectations were disappointed when the House chose not to address financial inducements at the primary level.
“Just yesterday, Nigerians hoped that the House of Representatives would finally take a decisive stand against the cancer of vote-buying,” Obi said while reacting to the ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act, 2022, by the House of Representatives.
He argued that the lower chamber’s decision to bypass criminalizing such inducements at the primary stage suggests a lack of political will to confront the root of electoral corruption.
“By refusing to criminalise vote buying at the foundational stage of party primaries, the House has chosen to protect a broken system rather than safeguard the nation’s future,” he said.
Obi emphasized that any attempts to eliminate vote-buying will ultimately fail if the issue is not tackled from the very start of the electoral cycle.
The former governor further cautioned that the true meaning of democracy is eroded when ballots are treated as commodities.
He also raised concerns that the habit of vote-buying has permeated other levels of society beyond the political landscape.
Obi called for courageous reforms, insisting that the future of the nation’s democracy must not be compromised.
“Any effort to stop vote buying must begin at the primaries. Without addressing the problem at its roots, any measures taken later will lack the strength to endure. A democracy where votes are bought is not a true democracy; it is a criminal marketplace. Nigeria deserves better. We must prioritise reform. Disturbingly, the culture of vote buying has now trickled down even to town unions, village unions, clubs and associations, as well as student elections. The future of our democracy must not be for sale. A new Nigeria is possible, but only if we confront these practices boldly and insist that integrity begins at the very start of our electoral process,” he said.