By Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. Rigging and vote buying are seen as part of the ugly strategies used by Politicians in winning elections at different levels in not only Nigeria but in major African Countries.
Politicians use money and some materials to induce voters, vote in their favor while in some cases ballot box snatching , multiple voting ,manipulation of election results and connivance with election officials to rig the outcome of the elections are all common phenomenon in Nigeria’s election
Nigerians will soon cast their vote in the 25th February Presidential election and March for Governorship in the majority of the States across the Federation.
Who are behind rigging and Vote buying?
No Nigerian Politician can claim to be a saint in this atrocity as they stock huge amounts of money ahead of elections.
The money is used in bribing Election officials , security agents and political party agents besides using it to bribe voters.
Premium Times is one of the prominent online news platforms in Nigeria. The paper Identified some of the ways of manipulating elections in Nigeria titled. “10 ways politicians rig elections in Nigeria”
1. Militarize your opponent’s area: Ensuring that polling units in your opponent’s area are flooded with armed military personnel is one of the ways to rig elections in Nigeria.
This will not only result in voter apathy, it will instill fear in the minds of the electorate who may eventually not turn out at the polling units .
Creating tension in areas like this can lead to cancellation of elections in that location and hence, less votes for your opponent which reduces his or her chances of winning.
2. Ensure late arrival of materials in your rival’s polling unit: By making sure election materials arrive late at your opponent’s polling unit, his/her votes will be drastically reduced.
This way, many voters on the queue will not be able to cast their votes once the time frame for voting elapses. Also many potential voters will return home in anger without voting.
This was the case in many polling units across the country and there were similar lamentations from the electorate as well.
Even though the electoral commission extended the time for voting on election day, the information did not get to so many polling units on time, and even in polling units where the voting time was extended, many voters ended up not voting.
While INEC is solely in charge of distribution of materials, it relies on transport unions to provide vehicles and drivers. Many of these transport unions across states are on the payroll of politicians who can thus control the process.
3. Threaten the Independent Electoral Commission officials: Another way to rig election in Nigeria is by threatening the electoral officials especially the Returning Officers who are in charge of announcing the results.
This is easier when the “rigger” of the election is one of higher authority and from a strong political party. It is also easier if you are an incumbent governor or lawmaker or a top former political player.
4. Compromise INEC’s logistic process :These logistic processes include provisions for transportation of results from polling units wards collation centers, designated locations (for collation centers) as well as designated time for collation of results and provision of necessary amenities such as electricity in collation centers. Card readers can also be compromised not to be effective in selected areas.
Tampering with the mode of transportation of materials and electricity, changing the venue of collation centers and delaying the time for collation of results are other possible ways to rig elections in the country.
Also, the partnership between the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and INEC is an easy way to rig the election as most of the NURTW officials are known to be foot soldiers of politicians.
These road transport workers may decide to arrive late with election materials as well as tamper with election results.
5. Compromise INEC officials : This involves bribing the ad-hoc staff of the electoral commission with money and properties. One can also make promises of appointments and provision of jobs to the officials if they play along in the rigging plan.
Also, bribing the National Youth corps members involved in the electoral process is an easy way to rig. The corps members, most of whom are vulnerable and desperate to make quick money, often fall prey to offers of huge amounts of money.
An example is the case of former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who had given a N30 million bribe to an INEC staff to compromise electoral officers ahead of the 2015 general elections which the then ruling PDP still lost to the now ruling APC.
6. Snatching of ballot boxes/papers in your rival’s polling unit: This is one of the most common ways to rig any election in Nigeria.
As a candidate who wants to rig an election, all you have to do is get thugs to storm the polling units and cart the ballot boxes in the polling unit where your rival will likely garner more votes.
This act will cause the electoral commission to cancel an election in that polling unit thereby, canceling all votes that he/she (rival) would have gained.
7. Electoral violence and thuggery: This is similar to the snatching of ballot boxes only in this case, the thugs invade the polling unit and not only destroy election materials but also attack the electorate and INEC officials causing everyone present to flee for safety .
Creating violence of this manner can make the electorate scared and cause low turnout of voters in the polling unit which will eventually affect the result of your opponent.
8. Manipulating results at collation centers: This is another assured way to rig elections in Nigeria. It goes hand in hand with compromising electoral officials and INEC’s logistics process as they all have a role to play.
It involves changing the figures of the original results brought from various wards to the collation centers with the help of your party agents and INEC officials (who have agreed to be on your side). It is quite a difficult mode though.
This way, the figures are changed in your favor and when the results are finally announced, you emerge victorious.
This is made more possible by the various flaws in the INEC collation process including unclear designation of ward collation centers, lack of electricity in collation centers, as well as midnight and delayed collation of results.
9. Vote buying : This is probably the cheapest way to rig an election in Nigeria as the electorate, many who seem to care less about the impact of their actions on election day, are often ready to sell their votes for money (or food item as the case may be).
All a candidate needs to do on election day is have his/her party agent arrive at the polling unit and distribute money and or food items to voters who have come out to vote. The voters will in turn, vote in favor of the politician.
The electorate in rural communities often fall prey to vote buying as many of them are often desperate for what to eat.
10. Get your name announced by hook or crook’ and let your opponent go to court
Now: this is the smartest way to rig an election in Nigeria, one that many Nigerian politicians have now adopted.
This way, a politician knows that the judiciary system can be compromised and the case can be ruled in his her favor takes an eternity before it is resolved in court.
The Position of electoral Act 2022
The 2023 Poll will be a bit different from other elections conducted in Nigeria as new Electoral Act and INEC’s innovation all make rigging difficult , if the systems are adhered to. It will be hard for riggers to manufacture votes.
Even though the devil is also working There are politicians out there that may likely fund the sabotage of every good innovation in an election. As always, the Commission experienced, despite its demonstrable commitment to its mandate as it is not in control of all the actors whose actions or inactions will determine the success of the election.
Ibrahim Garba Maryam is a Civil Society activist and Public affairs commentator with keen interest in election matters. He said Vote buying usually takes place before the election days as many people were arrested by police with hundreds of Permanent Voters Cards suspected to be purchased ahead of 2023 elections but up to date no one heard about their prosecution.
Ibrahim Garba said the issue of Naira redesigned will help a lot in curbing the menace.
“Issues of vote buying in 2023 election will not be like in the previous polls because of the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which is an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters by using the voters fingerprints.
He said that is the reason why the ruling party in Nigeria is making a lot of noise trying to bring Chips as they see less chances of manipulating the election through rigging.
Incumbency impact
On the issue of incumbency impact on the upcoming elections I G Maryam expressed that the party in power is using huge public resources to support their Campaigns at the detriment of the opposition Parties.
“See the kind of conveys they are using in campaignings with ,hundreds of Exorbitant Cars and rented crowd that is why we are suggesting the electoral act to be amended and suggested that President and Governors should hand over to Chief Justice at the Federal level and Chief Judges at State levels three months to the elections Period” The activist stated
He added that for the incumbents using Public funds , security agents and controlling the Judiciary in Nigeria is what gives upper hand to the ruling parties during election.
For More News And Analysis About Nigeria Follow Africa-Press
