Nigeria’s Presidential Candidates Are Bribing Citizens with Sugar and Rice

It’s no revelation that politicians sometimes use slimy means of reeling in votership for their campaigns, from orating empty promise after empty promise to the hopeful masses to running tasteless commercials bashing their opponents.

But in Nigeria, the two candidates currently locked in a close race for presidency—current leader Goodluck Jonathan’s of the People’s Democratic Party and opponent Muhammadu Buhari’s of the All Progressives Congress party—are resorting to groveling in the most basic of ways: bribes you can literally eat.

Head to Twitter, and you’ll find dozens of Nigerians sharing photos of 50-kilogram bags of rice—as well as other types of food, such as garri (granular cassava root, or tapioca), sugar and nuts—emblazoned with the candidates’ names and likenesses, as well as the stamp of their respective political parties and slogans of “Peace & Unity” and “Power to the people.”

Some of the social media users sharing the images warn not to let the publicity stunt sway your vote…

But others have already let the free food go to their heads.

With some 60 percent of the Nigerian population under the poverty line, the reality is that many of its people need the food being given out by the candidates, despite their shady intentions. Some voters have taken to criticizing Goodluck Jonathan for his cheaper giveaways (garri, with smaller bags of sugar and groundnuts) relative to Muhammadu Buhari, who is slinging larger bags of rice and jugs of groundnut oil. According to Newsweek, the rice currently being distributed is primarily from India and Southeast Asia, though some is domestic (and of poor quality).

This type of “deal” between citizens and politicians is known as “stomach infrastructure,” due to its clear-cut strategy of showing—in physical, immediately consumable terms—what citizens could “get out of” voting for a particular party. Want to get the attention of citizens in need of basic foodstuffs and other goods? Simply buy thousands of bags of food using money of unknown origin, then distribute them with a wink. But the repercussions come later, when corrupt politicians rise higher and higher on the ladder until they no longer need to bribe citizens—they’ve already got them. This particular election is markedly close, meaning that both candidates feel the need to one-up each other as much as possible with their questionable giveaways.

The final votes will be cast tomorrow. And despite their clear competition when it comes to bribes, Jonathan and Buhari have both signed a written agreement to honor the outcome of the election and prevent violence in its wake.

For now, all’s seemingly fair in love, war, and bags of ground cassava tubers.