Peter Obi criticises the House of Representatives over failure to criminalise vote buying, calling it a threat to Nigeria’s democratic future
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, on Sunday criticised the House of Representatives for failing to criminalise vote buying during party primaries, describing the decision as a serious setback for Nigeria’s democracy.
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Mr Obi, a former Governor of Anambra State, made his position known in a post titled Vote Buying Must Be Stopped at the Roots on his verified X handle, @PeterObi.
He said the refusal of lawmakers to outlaw vote buying at the primary election stage amounted to protecting a broken political system rather than safeguarding the country’s democratic future.
Mr Obi argued that the practice of vote buying had for years weakened Nigeria’s electoral process and damaged the nation’s credibility, insisting that credible elections could not emerge from a system built on inducement and bribery.
He said Nigerians had hoped the House of Representatives would take a decisive stand against what he described as the cancer of vote buying, but that the expectation was quickly dashed.
According to him, any serious effort to end vote buying must begin at party primaries, warning that measures introduced later in the electoral cycle would lack the strength to endure if the problem was not addressed at its foundation.
Mr Obi described a system where votes are purchased as a criminal marketplace rather than a true democracy, adding that national progress could not be achieved while corruption was legitimised within the democratic process.
He also expressed concern that the culture of vote buying had spread beyond formal politics, noting that similar practices were now evident in town unions, village associations, social clubs and even student elections.
The former presidential candidate called for urgent reforms, saying Nigeria deserved a democratic process rooted in integrity from the outset.
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He said confronting vote buying decisively was essential to realising the vision of a new Nigeria, adding that the future of the country’s democracy must not be put up for sale.
