A former National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, has criticised vote-buying by Nigerian politicians, saying the practice undermines the sovereignty of voters and weakens the credibility of elections.
Okoye made the remarks on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he accused the political elite of prioritising ways to manipulate election outcomes over addressing issues affecting the country’s development.
He said: “I think that the political elite in this country really do not believe in free, fair and transparent elections.
“They just want to buy the votes of the people.
“They want to replace the people as the sovereign, and it is very unfortunate.”
The former INEC commissioner said a credible election must allow voters to cast their ballots without intimidation, coercion or pressure before, during and after the process.
He said: “The mark of a free, fair and transparent election is the ability of the people to go to the polling units to cast their votes without any form of intimidation, without any form of coercion, and without any form of duress.
“But in this country, what we are now having is a situation where political parties have no ideologies, political parties are not campaigning on any issue, all they know is that on election day they will find a way of making sure that the votes of the people really do not count.”
Okoye also called for the careful and timely deployment of technology to improve Nigeria’s electoral process.
“I think that what is important is for the country to keep on improving and also keep on deploying technology as at when due in our electoral process,” he said.
His comments came after INEC established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its Information and Communications Technology Department on October 6 to strengthen its capacity to detect anomalies and counter disinformation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, had said automated artificial intelligence auditing tools were already integrated into the commission’s results verification process.
Okoye urged the media, civil society organisations and members of the public to closely monitor politicians throughout the electoral cycle.
He advised them to “focus attention on the activities of the political elite before, during and after election.”
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The former commissioner also commended ad hoc electoral staff, members of the National Youth Service Corps and other Nigerians for their contributions to the conduct of elections.
Meanwhile, Amupitan has inaugurated a multi-agency electoral logistics committee for the 2027 general elections, warning that no Nigerian should be disenfranchised because of delays in the distribution of election materials.
He also urged the National Orientation Agency to intensify grassroots mobilisation against voter apathy, vote-buying and electoral violence ahead of the elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.
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