Rights Groups Demand Probe Into Osun State Vote Buying

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) are calling for the investigation and prosecution of individuals who financed vote-buying and violence during the Osun State governorship election. HURIWA alleges that supporters of the All Progressives Congress and the Accord Party offered voters between N10,000 and N20,000 to influence the outcome, describing the practice as electoral terrorism.

SERAP expanded these demands in a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The petition alleges widespread financial inducement, voter intimidation, and violence, citing reports from the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria that recorded hundreds of irregularities.

Both organizations are urging Nigerian agencies to trace illicit funds and preserve digital evidence to identify the financiers and political beneficiaries of these schemes. HURIWA argues that politicians who purchase mandates often treat governance as an investment recovery project to recoup funds from the public treasury. SERAP has further requested that the African Union, ECOWAS, and United Nations human-rights mechanisms be allowed to provide independent scrutiny of the election's legitimacy.