Vote Buying and the Dialectics of Free and Fair Election in the 2017 Gubernatorial Election in Nigeria’s Anambra State

Abstract

The essence of election is to avail the citizens the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice. However, when such opportunity is manipulated by political parties through vote buying, the credibility of such election becomes a mirage. This study x-rayed the impact of vote buying on the conduct of free and fair election in the 2017 gubernatorial election in Anambra state. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and utilized questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. 400 respondents were interviewed using the well-structured 5-point scale questionnaire. Collected data were presented using frequency tables and percentages while chi-square test was used for data analysis. The study revealed that money and other material gifts were used to influence voters’ choice of candidate by various political parties in the 2017 Anambra gubernatorial election. It was also revealed that vote buying significantly retarded the achievement of free and fair election in the 2017 gubernatorial election in Anambra state. Against this backdrop, this study recommends a stronger and abjectly independent electoral umpire with the requisite powers to prosecute electoral offenders especially those that engage in monetary inducement of voters.