Osun Poll: HURIWA Demands Action Against Alleged Vote-Buying Financiers

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has urged relevant authorities to investigate and prosecute those allegedly behind the financing and organisation of vote-buying in the Osun State governorship election.

The group raised alarm over alleged widespread inducement of voters, warning that the development could damage the credibility of the election and pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic system.

HURIWA alleged that supporters of the APC and Accord Party offered between N10,000 and N20,000 to some prospective voters in return for their votes.

The rights group condemned the alleged practice as “despicable and reprehensible”, while questioning the apparent inability of law enforcement agencies to effectively curb vote-buying during elections.

HURIWA National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, said the organisation had consistently warned about the growing sophistication of vote-buying and its potential consequences for constitutional democracy.

“We warned before now that vote buying was becoming a serious threat to Nigeria’s democracy. What we have witnessed in Osun has elevated that menace to another level and should serve as a wake-up call to every institution responsible for protecting the sanctity of the ballot,” Onwubiko said.

HURIWA argued that vote-buying should be treated as more than an offence occurring at individual polling units, describing it as a wider form of electoral corruption capable of manipulating political competition and limiting voters’ freedom of choice.

The organisation referred to the practice as “electoral terrorism against constitutional democracy”, saying wealthy political actors could potentially use financial resources to buy political influence.

Onwubiko also warned that politicians who spend large sums to secure electoral victories could subsequently seek to recoup those expenses from public funds.

“When a mandate is purchased, governance becomes an investment recovery project. The politician who spends billions buying votes will naturally seek ways of recovering that money from the public treasury,” he said.

While acknowledging that poverty and economic hardship could make vulnerable voters more susceptible to inducements, HURIWA said responsibility should primarily rest with the politicians and financiers injecting money into the electoral process.

The group therefore called on INEC, EFCC, ICPC and relevant security agencies to investigate the alleged networks responsible for vote-buying.

It urged authorities to focus investigations and prosecutions on the financiers, organisers and political beneficiaries of such schemes, rather than only targeting voters who accept the money.

HURIWA further asked INEC to strengthen its systems for detecting and documenting vote-buying before, during and after elections and to maintain the independence and impartiality of electoral officials.

The organisation said the events surrounding the Osun election should provide important lessons ahead of the 2027 general elections.

It warned that without decisive action against vote-buying, financial power could increasingly determine election outcomes instead of the genuine choices of voters.

“Nigeria cannot continue to hold elections where votes are negotiated, sold and purchased while pretending that constitutional democracy is functioning normally,” HURIWA said.

The organisation also called on political parties, civil society groups, the media and the general public to reject the normalisation of vote-buying and expose attempts to commercialise elections.

It warned that the 2027 elections must not become “an auction in which the highest bidder purchases the future of millions of Nigerians.”

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