Trading of Votes in Sub-National Election in Nigeria: An Empirical Study of the Nature of Vote-Buying and Turn-Out Buying in Kebbi State During the 2023 General Elections

Abstract The literature on vote buying in democracies worldwide abounds, although with visible conceptual gaps stemming from the current discourse in conceptualising its various genres such as vote selling, retailing, and wholesaling, and votes trading, among others. This conceptual deficit has been further overshadowed by leading theoretical debates and the emergence of two competing theoretical models of vote buying and turn-out buying, as if the two can be conceptually separated. Therefore, using empirical data generated from a survey in Kebbi State, Nigeria, during the 2023 general elections, these models of vote trading phenomenon were critically evaluated. Thus, critical stakeholders in the electoral process were surveyed. Consequently, the survey employed relevant mixed-method tools to generate both quantitative and qualitative data. In the final analysis, the paper found out that votes were traded with material items at different stages of the electoral process and political actors involved in vote trading have cut across the participating political parties during the elections.