The 2019 General Election and the Transparency Question in Nigeria: Political Party Financing As the Bane of Youth Participation

Abstract

Election is perceived as the most peaceful means of power transfer in a democratic setting. It enables for competitive struggles to secure power in a prescribed rule of the game constitutionally. Nigeria is a democratic state currently undergoing its longest democratic transition unprecedented in the history of the country where six consecutive uninterrupted General Elections were conducted. However, the major issue of concern with Nigeria’s democratisation is youth participation and exclusion from politics. A major factor behind the marginalisation of youth is linked to the transparency question in terms of party financing and money politics. This study examined critically how the process of party financing excluded Nigeria’s youth from participating in the 2019 General Election. The study used a qualitative case study method. Data were gathered from primary and secondary sources. The primary sources included an in-depth interview with relevant stakeholders in the field, direct participant observation and consultation of government’s primary documents. The secondary sources were books, journals, newspapers, reports from organisations and agencies and internet sources. The data collected were discussed and interpreted using statistical techniques of tables, charts and a model. The work discovered that youth were barred from participating in Nigeria’s 2019 General Election in terms of contesting and winning of elective seats emanating from heavy use of money in party financing and campaign expenditure. The study thus, recommends that the viable alternative for youth to participate in Nigerian politics actively is to establish parties and lower the cost of obtaining party nomination and contest.

Investigating the Cost of Election in Nigeria: The 2019 General Election in Focus

“…During the 2019 General Election, particularly the Gubernatorial election, some states recorded intensified violence in Benue, Kano, Kogi, the Plateau, the Rivers, and Zamfara. In some instances, the ruling party, having sensed defeat, intentionally dragged the election into a stalemate (Sule et al, 2021), in which the final election was marred by violence leading to shootings in Benue and Kogi, hacking to death in Kano, and massive vote buying in Plateau and Sokoto. All these evidence are perceived theoretically in this study as the use of elite gameplay, including violence, to win an election, which caused election insecurity.…”