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ELECTORAL VIOLENCE AS A THREAT TO NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY

ABSTRACT

Electoral Violence has been one of the most prevalent forms of violence in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999. The manifestation of this violence has grown in magnitude and consequences from 2007-2011 with negative implications for democratic stability. With the use of oral and written sources; the attractiveness of political offices, poverty, a culture of impunity, and rigging among others have been identified as factors responsible for election violence. The effects of Election Violence have spread across the political, social and economic strata of the Nigerian society; leaving in its wake economic instability, lawlessness, proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), and generally a poor image of the country in the international community. It is this problem of Electoral Violence in Nigeria that this research examines, with a focus on its nature, causes, and effects on democratic stability and consolidation. With insight from the situation in Ondo State, the study demonstrates how the electoral process has been subverted by hi-jacking the state machinery to feed personal interests; thus giving an impetus for escalation of Election Violence and truncation of the democratic institution. It is argued that for democracy to prevail, election violence must be redressed.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Within the context of a complete break away from one-party and military dictatorships, African countries dived into competitive multiparty elections since the 1990s. Thus, as Ake puts it ‘Issues of democratization and human rights are increasingly the world’s interest in Africa overcoming a legacy of indifference to the fate of democracy on the continent’ (Ake, 1991:32). Many of these African states that allowed elections to be held in them made a mockery of their transition programs. In fact, Naomi Chazan pointed out the loss of legitimacy that has now characterized African elections when she pointed out that: ‘Elections in Africa, after the initial euphoria associated with political stability during decolonization quickly came to be viewed as meaningless political rites.’(Chazan, 1979:136). While not doubting the increasing nature of democratic transitions in African countries, Lemarchand concluded that, ‘there are compelling reasons to fear that the movement towards democracy may contain within itself the seed of its own undoing’ (Lemarchand, 1992:98). Celestin Monga identified eight problems with African politics which according to him are: the weakness of political parties, manipulation of the electoral process, a narrow political field, a constrained civil society, a controlled press, the absence of civility, privatized violence and politicized armies, and international support for dictatorship (Monga, 1997:156). However, Richard Joseph seemed to have captured African politics when he stated that ‘of themany factors impeding constitutional democracy in Africa, none appears more significant than the upsurge of political violence (Richard, 1997:3). It seems to us therefore that a proper understanding of political renewal in Africa should pay more attention to the role of political violence. Thus in Kenya, President Daniel arapMoi resorted to political violence as a means of retaining power. Similarly Kibaki who succeeded him was guilty of ‘daylight robbery and a civilian coup’ (Bamgbose, 2008:54). In Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off of 2008 in protest over political violence that killed over 120 people and displaced thousands (Bricking, 2010:1). The April 24 2005 Togo presidential election triggered off political violence resulting to the outflow of Togolese refugees to the neighboring countries of Ghana and Benin (Bamgbose, 2009:109). In October 2008, two Belgian demographers, Andre Lambert and Louis Lohle-Tart, were invited by the European Commission to assess the 2005 – 06 voter registration process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After their consultancy was done, they wrote a devastating critique of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Initially, the IRC had put the death toll at 5.4 million even though the original figure was not up to 5.4 million. These Belgian demographers put it at 200,000 deaths. Pertinent to note is that many lives were lost (Mamdani, 2010:15).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Electoral violence has caused a whole lot of harm to the socio economic development of Nigeria. Nigeria being a country with a history of electoral violence has found it difficult to take its

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