Former Anambra governor and presidential candidate Peter Obi has criticised the House of Representatives for its decision not to criminalise vote-buying during party primaries, describing it as a major setback for Nigeria's democratic development.
In a post on his X handle on Sunday, Obi said many Nigerians had hoped the House would take a firm stand against vote buying, a practice he described as a long-standing threat to credible elections and national integrity. According to him, that expectation was dashed when lawmakers declined to address the issue at its foundation.
He argued that by refusing to outlaw vote buying during party primaries, the House of Representatives had chosen to preserve what he called a "broken system" instead of protecting the future of the country and warned that credible elections cannot emerge from corrupt processes and that national progress remains unattainable while inducement and bribery are tolerated within the democratic system.
