Lawmaker representing Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo Federal Constituency of Anambra State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Peter Uzokwe, has dismissed claims that lawmakers deliberately failed to criminalise vote-buying during party primaries in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act 2022, insisting that the issue was more complex than it was being portrayed.
Uzokwe made the clarification on Monday while speaking on ‘Politics Today’, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, amid public criticism of the ongoing clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the House of Representatives.
LEADERSHIP reported last week that the House approved amendments to the Electoral Act 2022, making the electronic transmission of election results mandatory under Section 60. However, controversy arose after lawmakers could not reach consensus on criminalising vote-buying during party primaries.
Addressing the criticism, Uzokwe said the position of the House had been widely misunderstood, explaining that lawmakers examined the issue holistically before arriving at their decision.
According to him, one of the key challenges lawmakers explored was the difficulty of proving vote-buying, especially within the internal processes of political parties.
“When you say that you influence somebody to vote during primaries, how do you prove it?” he asked. “Your opponent can bring somebody who claims you gave him money. How do you prove that you don’t know the person or that the person has anything to do with you? By the time you struggle to prove it, the time for justice may already be gone.”
Uzokwe further argued that vote-buying is not limited to cash inducement, stressing that influence can take many forms.
“It is not only financial inducement that can influence the outcome of anything,” he said. “You can promise somebody something. Gentleman’s agreements. You can promise land, a car, or any other thing that the person may need at that particular time.”
He warned that criminalising vote-buying without clear parameters could be abused by political opponents, noting that allegations could easily be weaponised during intra-party contests.
The lawmaker also touched on broader electoral reforms, including timelines for party activities, explaining that party registers are submitted at least 30 days before primaries, while election-related activities often begin far ahead of general elections.
“In 2026, we will already begin serious election activities,” he said. “Governance will be reduced to the barest minimum one year before elections. So, how do we balance governance with electoral processes and still give people value for their mandate?”
Uzokwe added that lawmakers considered proposals requiring primaries and other activities to be concluded not later than 180 days before elections, though some stakeholders argued for a longer period of 210 days.
Sharing a personal reflection, the lawmaker rejected the idea that electoral success must be driven by inducement, recounting that he won his election without distributing money or food items.
“When I stood for election, nobody collected money from me because I didn’t have that money,” he said. “I neither shared rice nor one naira, yet people voted for me, and here I am today.”
He said his focus since assuming office has been on continuous empowerment of constituents, not election-season handouts.
“I have been sharing rice without election coming. I’ve been empowering petty traders,” Uzokwe said. “The voters own us, not the other way around.”
The lawmaker also criticised what he described as the weaponisation of poverty in Nigerian politics, contrasting it with practices in more developed democracies.
“In America, you spend money on communication,” he said. “But in Nigeria, we have weaponised poverty, where people ask for money before they vote. That is something we must consciously move away from.”
Uzokwe maintained that strengthening democratic institutions and improving citizens’ welfare, rather than criminalisation alone, remains key to curbing vote-buying and electoral malpractice in Nigeria.
Credit: Leadership