Electoral Violence and Human Security in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper critically examined the impasse of violence marring Nigeria’s electoral process and the implication for human security and safety. Election violence has been conceptualized as a form of political violence that involve widespread destruction of lives and property of members and supporters of opposing political parties and they usually occur during or immediately after general elections especially if the announced results did not reflect popular wishes. Available literature revealed that in Nigeria, except for the annulled June 12, 1993 Presidential election which was adjudged free, fair and credible, most elections conducted in the country since independence were far from being credible (Alanamu, 2005:11-12). Distorted election is characterized by voters register padding, vote rigging, illegal manipulation of ballot, stuffing of ballot box, intimidation and bribery of voters and electoral officers, vote buying, altering and spoiling of ballots during counting process and falsely reporting the count, by individual or groups, for the purpose of winning more votes than they otherwise could. These are reflections of what has characterized Nigeria political party system. The paper envisaged that if political office holders do not see politics as a do or die affair and embrace adherence to the letters and spirit of electoral governance and management laws, election violence will disappear from the polity. The paper recommends targeted reforms of the Electoral system such as enhanced capacity building, initiatives, innovative mechanisms like transparent governance through e/digital compliance monitoring of elections. The research highlights the need to embed sustainability through safeguards and robust social responsibility policies to ensure long-term sectoral resilience.