Vote-buying increased across states by 5% in 2023 general election – NBS

The National Bureau of statistics (NBS) has said that voting buying increases by 5% in the 2023 general elections.

The NBS report entitled, ’Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends Third Survey On Corruption As Experienced By The Population’, said the elections recorded 22% of vote buying, which is five per cent higher than the 2019 general elections with 17%

“Furthermore, in 2023, 10% reported that they were not personally offered money or another favour in exchange for their vote, but that instead another member of their household was approached, compared to 5 per cent in 2019″, it added.

The agency noted that 22% of Nigerian citizens reported that they were personally offered money in exchange of a vote before or during the 2023 general election, while nine per cent were offered another favour.

It described vote-buying as an act of offering money, goods or other favours in exchange for a voter’s vote in an election.

NBS said, “This represents an increase in both types of vote buying compared with 2019 when personal offers of money were reported by 17% and personal offers of other favours were reported by four per cent of citizens”.

However, NBS said its survey showed that some electorate were not influenced by their voting decisions even after collecting money or favour.

“Just over half (55%) of the citizens who were personally offered money or another favour in exchange for their vote in the 2023 general election reported that the offer did not influence their vote choice, while 40% of those citizens, said they voted for the person or political party which offered them money or a favour precisely because of the offer.

“Between 2019 and 2023, the proportion of Nigerians who were personally offered bribes in exchange for votes increased similarly across sexes, urban and rural areas, and age groups”, the agency said.

In an analysis of the vote buying by zones, NBS stated that there were minimal to no changes in South-West, South-South and North-Central parts of the country between 2019 and 2023.

The North-West, according to the NBS, increased from 23% in 2019 to 44% in 2023, adding that the North-West zone recorded “a relatively high share of 55% of citizens who were offered money or another favour in exchange for their vote.”