RETHINKING POLITICAL THUGGERY AND VOTERS’ APATHY IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Abstract
This paper examines the effect of political thuggery on voter apathy in Nigeria with special reference to the 2023 presidential election. The study argues that there is a relationship between political thuggery and voter apathy in Nigeria. The argument adopts Rational Choice Theory as its theoretical framework. This theory states that the electorates will take decisions to vote at elections or not based on cost-benefit analysis, meaning that they will always rank all possible alternatives and their consequences before making a choice. This study used qualitative approach as its method of data collection. Also, content analysis is used to analyze the data collected. The paper recommends that, the sitting government, INEC, the electorates, security agents and the law should be made active in dealing appropriately with political thuggery in all its ramification.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Agagu, A.A. (2010), Combating Violence in Nigeria: Issues, Prospects and Problems.
In Ajayi, K. (eds). Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies Unit, University
of Edo Ekiti. Ikeja: Solar Flares.
Anand, P. (1993). Foundations of Rational Choice Under Risk, Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Anthony, H. (2017), Tracking the Trends and Numbers: Islam, Terrorism, Stability and
Conflicts in the Middle East, Washington DC: Centre for Strategic and International
Studies.
Madiha Afzal, (2020). From “Western Education is Forbidden” to the World Deadliest Terrorist
Group, Education and Boko Haram in Nigeria. Security, Strategy and Order. Foreign
Policy at Bookings.
Shankyula, (n.d.), Political Thuggery and Elections in Nigeria and the Law.
Cloud, D. (2010). Voter Apathy: Definitions, Statistics and Causes.
Odigbo, J., Okeke, C., Okafor, O., (2022). Political Science an Introduction. Lagos:
McMillan Publishers.
Tom, D. (1995). Two Faces of Political Apathy. Temple University Press.
Umar, L.A. (2019). Causes and Effect of Political Thuggery. Amazon Digital Services
LLC-KDP, US.
Aba, E.O. & Nwokwu, P. Political Violence and the Sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria.
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (IOSR – JHSS). Vol. 20, Issue 11
Ver 1 (Nov. 2015) pp. 33-44. Accessed 7 August from www.journals.org
Samuel, O. (2017), Youth Involvement in Political Violence/Thuggery: A Counter Weight
to Democratic Development in Africa. Short Communication – (2017) vol 5, Issue 3
INEC; IDEA 1 Chart: Dataphyte
Kristine, J., Keith, I., Jose, I.L., & Simrin, M. (2014), Making Sense of Youth Political
Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa International Policy
Leo the Great Ebenezer, (2021). National Elections and Political Apathy: A Comparative
Study of Elections in Nigeria and South Africa. Academic Paper
THIS DAY (2023) Violence, Apathy, Voter Suppression Mar Governorship, State Assembly
Elections. Accessed 3 June, 2023 from thisdaylive.com
THISDAYLIVE, World Bank: Four Million Nigerians Pushed into Poverty in the First
Months of 2023. Accessed 7 August, 2023 from www.thisdaylive.com
Kolade Larewaju (11th February, 2007). Nigeria: Obasanjo Explodes – April Polls
Do or Die Affair for PDP. Vanguard Newspapers.
Accessed 4 August, 2023 from allafrica.com
Seun Opejobi, (30 March,2023). 2023 Elections: Families of 39 slain Nigerians, Victims
Seek Justice. Daily Post News Accessed on 7th June, 2023 from, dailypost.ng
ACLED (3 February, 2023). Nigeria Election Violence Tracker Situation Summary:
– 31 January, 2023. Accessed on 2 June, 2023 from reliefweb.int/report/Nigeria
Allingham, M. (2002). Choice Theory: A very Short Introduction, Oxford, ISBN 978-
Accessed 7 August, 2023 from https://global.oup.com>product
Ben Ezeamalu, (24 February, 2023). Nigeria 2023: Killing in Nigeria’s Southeast Ignite
Fear of Voter Apathy. Accessed on 5 June, 2023 from the africanreport.com
Conteh, N. (2013). An Introduction to Election Managers and Tertiary Institutions in
Sierra Leone. Institute of Electoral Administration and Civic Education (INEACE)
in Collaboration with University of Makeni (UNIMAK) in Sierra Leone.
https://necsl.org>pdf>media
Voter Apathy Worsens Ahead of 2023 (10 October, 2021), Daily Trust
Accessed, 7 June, 2023 from https://dailytrust.com/voter-apathy
Dennis Amata, (March 3, 2023). Nigeria records only 26.72% voter turnout in 2023 election.
Accessed 4 August, 2023 from Google.com/amp/search?q=
Fortune Eromosele, (May 5, 2023). 137 Killed, 577 Abducted During 2023 Elections –
Report. Accessed on 6th June, 2023 from http://www.vanguardngr.com
Hakeem, O. (2014), Violence and Votes in Nigeria: The Dominance of Incumbents in the
Use of Violence to Rigg Elections. African Spectrum, Vol. 49, No. 2 (2014). Pp. 27-51.
Sage Publications Ltd. Accessed 7 August, 2023 from http://www.jstor.org
On the Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict Management in Nigeria, Human Right, February 26
Accessed 7 August, 2023 from accord.org.az/
Human Right Watch, (6 February, 2023). Nigeria: Impunity, Insecurity Threaten Elections.
Accessed 3rd June, 2023 from hrw.org/news/2023
Maarten Halff, (n.d.). Confidence in Elections and the acceptance of results: A Policy Brief
of the Electoral Integrity Initiative. Accessed on 7 June 2023 from
confidence-in-electi…e-acceptance-of-pdf
Melanie, L. (1922). Rational Choice Theory: A School of Thought that Predicts Economic
And Social Behaviour, google.com/amp/s/businessinsider Accessed 3 May, 2023.
Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate to Rise to 41% in 2023 - KPMG
google.com/amp/s/www.channeltv.com/2023/04/11/nigeria2021
Oni, G. (2014). Ending Political Thuggery and Violence. Accessed 6 May, 2023 from
www.nigerianobservernews.com/23102014/features/features4html#-V-8TiTPTX10
Resurgent Threats to 2023 Elections, Punch Editorial Board. 26 December, 2022
Accessed 7 August, 2023 from punching.com
Roxana G., &Adrienne L. (9 January, 2020). Does electoral violence affect vote choice and
willingness to vote? Conjoint analysis of a vignette experiment. Vol. 57, Issue1,
January 9,Accessed, 7 August, 2023 from journals.sagepub.com/doi/full…
Sahara Reporters, The Biased Umpire-THE NEWS, 26 March 2007
Accessed, 7 August, 2023 from saharareporters.com>biased
Samson Nwafor, (25 March, 2023). 2023 Polls: A Harvests of Deaths As 130 Lost
Accessed on 6 June, 2023 from independent.ng/2023#pc
Shenga, C. (2019), The Effect of Electoral Violence on Electoral Participation in Africa
https://journals.openedition.org>cea
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN: 3026-9474 (Online)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.