Voters Apathy and Revival of Genuine Political Participation in Nigeria

Agu, Sylvia Uchenna; Okeke, V. O. S.; Idike, Adeline Nnenna

doi:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p439

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The return of democratic rule in 1999 after many years of military intervention has meant that electoral processes and outcomes have been essential subjects of scholarly inquiry. Research on Nigerian elections have often focused on the electoral process (Omotola, 2007;Omodia, 2009;Adeoti, Olaniyan, 2014), electoral malpractices such as vote buying, violence and rigging (Bratton, 2008;Collier, Vicente, 2014;Onopajo et al, 2015;Nwankwo, 2018), the history of electoral politics in Nigeria (Agbaje Adejumobi, 2006), electoral violence (Collier, Vicente, 2014;Angerbrandt, 2018), electoral participation and voter turnout (Omotola, Aiyedogbon, 2012;Nwankwo, Okafor, Asuoha, 2017;, and voter apathy (Agu et al, 2013;Falade, 2014;Taiwo, Ahmed, 2015). The analysis of factors influencing voter choices has, however, received relatively little attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatial pattern of voter choice homogeneity in the Nigerian presidential elections of the fourth republic

Nwankwo

2019

Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series

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The return of democratic rule in 1999 after many years of military intervention has left some electoral geographic imprints on Nigeria: voting pattern has varied over this period. This paper analyses the pattern of voter choice homogeneity (VCH) and tests the effect of religion on VCH in the presidential elections of the fourth Nigerian republic from 1999 to 2015. The study found that some economic indicators have a positive and significant effect on VCH from the 2003 election but were all insignificant and with a negative impact in the 2015 election. The influence of religion on VCH was negative in the 1999 election but remained positive in subsequent elections and had an increasingly upward trajectory signifying the snowballing importance of faith in citizens’ political choices at the presidential polls. The analysis shows that the pattern of VCH in 1999 was random, but clustered from 2003 to 2015, although the 2011 geographical clustering of VCH was dissected and the 2015 pattern was regionalised. Thus, the article argues that voting patterns structured Nigeria’s political landscape from a random to clustered but dissected electoral landscapes to a clustered but regionalised mi-lieu of a nation of two voting worlds. The pattern of a nation of two voting blocs was witnessed in the 2015 election, in which the VCH sharply depicts the religious cleavage of the country and to some degree also depicts ethnic fault-lines.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spatial pattern of voter choice homogeneity in the Nigerian presidential elections of the fourth republic

Nwankwo

2019

Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series

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“…The level of electoral participation of the citizens determines to a large extent the success of the electoral system (Falade, 2015). A low level of electoral participation may prevent elections from performing their three main purposes of accountability effect, legitimacy effect and representative effect (Agu et al, 2013). Voting is the most visible and widespread form of citizens' participation in the electoral process.…”

Section: Understanding Elections and Voter Turnoutmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the most widely acknowledged indicator of measuring political participation is voter turnout. The logic is that if a great number of citizens do not create their opinions, elections would produce no incentives for politicians to execute policies in the interest of the people (Agu et al, 2013).…”

Section: Understanding Elections and Voter Turnoutmentioning

confidence: 99%

Separatist Threat, Militarization and Voter Turnout: Exploring the Dynamics of the 2017 Governorship Election in Anambra State, Nigeria

Mbah

Nzeadibe

Nwangwu

et al. 2020

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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Using the qual-dominant mixed methods approach, this study analysed the impact of the separatist threat and the militarization of elections on voter turnout during the 2017 governorship election in Anambra State, Nigeria. Findings indicate that perceived and real marginalization of the Igbo in Nigeria’s state-building is largely driving the neo-Biafra separatist threat to boycott elections in Anambra State. This does not only account for the state militarization of elections in order to guarantee security; it also inadvertently engendered fear among citizens, undermined voter turnout and exacerbated political exclusion. This study concludes that inclusive political development presents an opportunity for de-escalation of separatist threats, demilitarization of elections and enhancement of voter turnout in Nigeria.

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“…Unlike the developed democracies where politics are issue based and content filled, politics in Nigeria is a struggle for survival. Agu, Okeke, and Idike (2013) cited in Onwuama (2018), expressed that politics in Nigeria is regarded as a dirty game and it is practiced with bitterness, hatred, rancour and other associated evils. The outcome of this is that Nigeria is in vicious cycle of political crises and instability.…”

Section: Voter Intimidationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electoral Security and Voter-Turnout in the 2019 Gubernatorial Election in Abia State: Interrogating the Narratives

2020

IJASOS

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Electoral security has serious implications on the survival of democracies, because security is a significant part of an election management process as it influences the level of political participation among the electorates, either during campaign rallies, and coming out to vote on election days. Voter turnout is seen as an important indicator of the state of health of any democracy, old or new, consolidated or in transition. Apart from this, voting is the most important form of political participation especially on Election Day. In Nigeria, there have also been allegations of complicity by incumbents, politicians and security operatives in facilitating electoral fraud during elections as these have affected the level of political participation in terms of voter turnout. This paper examined the intertwining influence of electoral security and voters" turnout in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Abia State of Nigeria. Anchoring our discourse on the theory of the postcolonial state which sees the Nigerian state as privatized and used only as an instrument for primitive accumulation, with data drawn from both primary and secondary sources, and a qualitative descriptive method of analysis, findings revealed that; voter were inaccurate as this was manipulated to favour the incumbent. Also, there was a low turnout of voters during the 2019 gubernatorial election in Abia state as a result of massive deployment of political thugs and coercive instrument of the state (security agents) with the clear intention of rigging the election. This move created fear among the voters who felt that the whole electoral process was flawed. The paper recommends amongst others that; there is need to carry out electoral reforms for effective guarantee of security of the electoral process as this will in turn encourage high voters" turnout in subsequent elections in Abia State.

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Voters Apathy and Revival of Genuine Political Participation in Nigeria

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

The spatial pattern of voter choice homogeneity in the Nigerian presidential elections of the fourth republic

The spatial pattern of voter choice homogeneity in the Nigerian presidential elections of the fourth republic

Separatist Threat, Militarization and Voter Turnout: Exploring the Dynamics of the 2017 Governorship Election in Anambra State, Nigeria

Electoral Security and Voter-Turnout in the 2019 Gubernatorial Election in Abia State: Interrogating the Narratives

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