VOTE-BUYING AND VOTERS TURN-OUT IN THE 2023 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE

Abstract

Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, inaugurated in 1999, continues to face serious challenges from the persistent practice of vote buying, which reduces electoral participation from a civic responsibility to a market-driven transaction, thereby undermining electoral credibility and democratic accountability. This study investigates the relationship between vote buying and voter turnout in the 2023 gubernatorial election in Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State, adopting Rational Choice Theory to conceptualize voters as rational actors who respond to material incentives in their decision-making. Using a multi-stage sampling technique, data were obtained from 379 accredited voters drawn from eight wards through structured Likert-scale questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools and the Improved Confrontation Index, with a benchmark mean of 3.00, via SPSS software. The findings indicate a high prevalence of vote buying, manifested mainly through the distribution of cash and material goods in close proximity to polling units. Although vote buying may stimulate short-term voter mobilization, its long-term consequences include increased political cynicism and declining trust in democratic institutions. The study concludes that the persistence of vote buying, driven largely by poverty and weak enforcement of electoral laws, artificially inflates voter turnout while eroding meaningful political participation. Consequently, the study recommends strengthened enforcement mechanisms, comprehensive poverty-reduction strategies, intensified civic education, and electoral reforms that emphasize the quality rather than the quantity of votes to enhance democratic consolidation in Nigeria.