BLESSING OMALE, Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has warned Nigerians against vote buying and other forms of electoral inducement, describing the growing monetization of the political process as a major threat to democratic governance and national development.
Olukoyede issued the warning on Wednesday while delivering the inaugural lecture of the High-Level Guest Speakers’ Series organized by the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies at the University of Ilorin, where he called for a collective national effort to ensure peaceful, credible and transparent elections in 2027.
Speaking on the theme, “Mobilising Critical Stakeholders for Setting the Agenda for Peaceful and Credible 2027 Elections in Nigeria,” the EFCC boss said the Commission remained committed to combating electoral corruption, particularly vote buying, vote selling and other forms of financial influence that compromise the integrity of elections.
According to him, the commercialisation of the electoral process weakens democratic institutions by distorting the political recruitment process and producing leaders who are more concerned with recovering campaign expenditures than delivering good governance.
“The EFCC is opposed to commercialization of votes not only because it is a financial crime, but because it weakens the foundation of good governance by compromising the political recruitment process.
“Leaders who pay their way into public office are unlikely to prioritise public good and accountability. Rather, recouping their investments becomes the overarching objective, to the detriment of the common good,” he said.
Olukoyede disclosed that the anti-graft agency had secured several arrests, prosecutions and convictions involving politicians, electoral officials and citizens linked to vote-buying schemes in recent years.
He assured Nigerians that the Commission would intensify surveillance and enforcement measures ahead of the next general elections.
He stressed that electoral offences involving financial inducement would continue to attract prosecution regardless of the status of those involved.
The EFCC chairman also raised concerns about the evolving nature of electoral corruption, noting that perpetrators have adopted increasingly sophisticated methods to evade detection.
According to him, vote buying is no longer limited to cash exchanges at polling units, as some political actors now rely on coded communications, covert transactions and off-site arrangements to influence voters before election day.
“Vote buying manifests not just through financial inducement of voters but also through other material and commodity offers. Investigations are pointing to the fact that some of these criminal activities are no longer being carried out in the open.
“They are not even being done on election days. Codes are being used covertly, and linkages are being established with voters outside the electoral framework in a bid to influence them,” he said.
Olukoyede said the Commission was fully aware of these emerging tactics and was strengthening its capacity to detect and disrupt such schemes in order to protect the integrity of future elections.
He identified stronger collaboration among stakeholders, strict enforcement of electoral laws, issue-based political campaigns, responsible media engagement, professional security operations and effective conflict-resolution mechanisms as critical requirements for credible elections.
The anti-corruption chief urged political parties to reject vote buying and embrace decency in political campaigns, warning that inflammatory rhetoric and divisive politics had contributed significantly to electoral violence in previous election cycles.
He also challenged media organisations to play a more active role in exposing vote-buying networks and other forms of electoral corruption, while calling on security agencies to remain neutral and professional throughout the electoral process.
According to him, coordinated security planning and proactive deployment of resources would help minimise electoral risks and strengthen public confidence in democratic institutions.
Earlier, Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, G. A. Animasawun, said the lecture series was designed to create a platform for identifying and addressing threats to Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 elections.
He noted that the Centre intends to move beyond academic discussions by promoting practical solutions capable of strengthening electoral integrity, peace and national security.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Wahab Egbewole described electoral corruption as a major national security concern and called for stronger institutional collaboration to tackle electoral malpractice.
Egbewole commended the EFCC’s preventive approach to combating electoral corruption and proposed a strategic partnership between the Commission and the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies to advance research, training and policy development on the relationship between electoral corruption and national security.
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