General Elections In Nigeria Research Articles

Do disabled people also vote? Electoral frameworks and voting participation in Nigeria’s 2019 elections

As voting represents the peak of citizen engagement in politics, this article assessed electoral laws and guidelines, and how they influenced the voting participation of disabled people during Nigeria’s 2019 general elections. It relied on the qualitative and quantitative methods to source data from key participants, including disabled students at the Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo, Nigeria’s main training institution for disabled people. The data were subjected to descriptive statistics and contently analysed. The article revealed that beyond constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal participation of all, legislations such as the 2010 Electoral Act, where well implemented, positively influenced the voting participation of disabled people. However, challenges of braille ballot papers, transportation restriction, and stigmatization adversely affected their voting participation. The article offers recommendations for enhanced inclusion of disabled people and for closing the disability gap in future elections. Points of Interest The Electoral Act (as amended) provides opportunities for enhanced voting participation of disabled people during elections in Nigeria but majority of them are not aware of these provisions. The research found that the electoral officials did not follow all the provisions of the Electoral Act during the 2019 elections, and this affected the voting participation of many disabled people. Non-availability of brail ballot papers and sign language interpreter at the voting centers as well as restriction placed on mobility on the day of election restricted the participation of disabled people in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. The study recommended an improvement in the implementation of the Electoral Act by the electoral officials to improve voting participation of disabled people in Nigeria. The study recommended that electoral reforms that include electronic voting system and transmission of results should be implemented and strengthened in subsequent elections in Nigeria.

INEC-Sponsored Media Messages and Voters’ Turnout during the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria: A Study of Perception of Warri Voters

The media are partners in a democracy because they ensure political participation in the democratic process. Audience perception of the media is vital as it affects credibility and believability of the media and their messages. Credibility and believability of the media are predicated to an extent upon the source of media messages. These issues prompted this study which examined the INEC-Sponsored media messages during the 2019 general elections in Nigeria with specific reference to Warri voters. The study which adopted survey research methodology sampled 384 respondents and used questionnaire to collect data. Data collected were analysed by simple percentages and measures of central tendencies, while hypotheses were tested by Regression Analysis. The study found among others that voters in Warri metropolis perceived that the INEC-Sponsored media messages during the 2019 general elections were credible and thus created the expected level of awareness and sensitization about the general elections. This consequently and significantly influenced voters’ turnout in Warri metropolis during the 2019 general elections. The study thereafter recommended among others that INEC should continue to sponsor unbiased media messages to voters as this will strengthen elections and democracy in Nigeria.

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Hate Speech among Editors of Daily Trust, The Nation and The Guardian Newspapers in Nigeria

All over the world, hate speech represents a form of threat to damage the lives of individuals and increase the sense of fear in entire communities. Scholars have aligned with the description that it is a globally-endorsed paradigm that the press as an important institution in the democratic process plays a key role during elections. As the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the press provides the platform for narratives and discourses in the service of elections, political negotiations, and other features of the contestations among politicians and other civil organisations involved in election administration. However, problems associated with election reporting and media role in political contestations and machinations, particularly on the African continent, have been a recurrent clog in the wheel of politics in Africa. For instance, in Nigeria, since the 1950s up to the early 1980s, spiraling into the Fourth Republic that started in 1999 and beyond, several election problems that were rooted in perceived mishandling of the electoral process by the media has occurred in the country. The 1965 parliamentary and 1983 general elections were faced by conflicts with accompanying widespread violence, which resulted in military interventions. Within this context, the study adopts an interpretative phenomenological analysis with editors of Daily Trust, The Nation, and The Guardian newspapers in relation to the reportage of the 2015 and 2019 general elections in Nigeria. The theoretical tenets of Critical Race Theory serve the study goal. Nine Editors were purposively selected for an in-depth interview. Arising from the interview, the study discovered that there are implications of hate speech on the professional journalistic practice as it undermines the ethics of the journalism profession. The study recommends that as gatekeepers of the content, editors should engage in checking and cross-checking of facts as a guiding principle in the professional journalistic practice in Nigeria.

A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Some Newspapers Campaign Advertisements for Nigeria’s 2019 Elections and Their Appeal Strategies

This study investigated the multimodal resources of some political campaign ads for the 2019 general elections in Nigeria with the purpose of analyzing their appeal strategies. The objectives were to: examine the several communicative elements of the 2019 elections campaign advertisements as pieces of discourse as well as apply the analytical tool of Discourse Analysis to establish the appeal strategies adopted to achieve some political objectives. Data for this study were drawn from newspaper advertisements in three national dailies: the Punch, the DailySun and the Vanguard. The newspapers were published between December 2018 and February 2019. Six advertisements were purposively selected for this study owing to the several rhetorical appeals in them. The analysis of data was based on discourse multimodal analysis approach. The analysis showed that the multimodal resources of the ads, which were socio-culturally grounded, were analyzed under the broad themes of appeal to performance, appeal to endorsement and appeal to freedom which were the major tropes in the ads. In conclusion, it was implied in the study that the multimodality study is an important part of political expression generally and in Nigeria specifically, mere looking at the fact that the semiotic resources deployed in political campaign ads on newspapers convey uncommon yet compelling and significant political meanings and messages about politicians and so on.

Discourse Analysis of Semiotic Resources in Newspaper Political Campaign Advertisements of Select Candidates for the 2019 Elections in Nigeria

This study focused on newspaper political campaign advertisements of select candidates for the 2019 general elections in Nigeria with the aim of analysing the semiotic resources in the newspaper political campaign advertisements of the select candidates. The specific objectives were to: determine how personality profiling served as semiotic resource in the 2019 elections campaign advertisements of the APC candidate of Lagos State, Nigeria as well as examine the use of color as a semiotic resource in the 2019 elections campaign advertisements of the APC gubernatorial candidates of Lagos and Abia States, Nigeria among others. The Social Semiotic Theory was adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. Data for this study were drawn from newspaper advertisements in three national dailies: The Punch, Daily Sun and The Vanguard newspapers. The newspapers were published between December 2018 and February 2019. Three (3) advertisements were purposively selected for this study owing to the several semiotic resources in them. The data were analyzed using the Discourse Analysis approach. The analysis revealed personality profiling of the APC gubernatorial candidate of Lagos State based on his educational qualification, experience and popularity. It also showed that color, image placement, attire and handshakes were also semiotic resources found in the newspaper political campaign advertisements of the select candidates in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. Green and red were identified to be instrumental in communicating growth, light and love. Based on the findings, it was recommended that further study be carried out to uncover the communicative elements in political campaign advertisements in Nigeria newspapers

The Place of Grammar in a Stylistic Study: An Analysis of Niyi Osundare’s Open letter to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

This study examined the role of Grammar in the Linguistic Stylistic analysis of Niyi Osundare’s Open Letter to President Jonathan. The study identified, analyzed, and related the prominent grammatical components in the letter to its socio-political context. The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. Additionally, the data were analysed using the purview of the linguistic approach of stylistics. It was discovered that the grammar of the language of the text was deployed in a manner of appealing to President Jonathan to willingly and graciously accept the outcome of the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria. The study equally demonstrated that grammatical devices employed in the letter illuminated the style of language use of Osundare in political discourse. The study concluded that grammar has an important role to play in studying political discourses as it enhances the discovering of their intentions.

Intra-Party Conflicts and Party Stability in Nigeria: A Study of the Alliance for Democracy (AD)

Abstract: Purpose: The study examined the effects of the strategies employed by the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the main opposition party in the 1999 general elections in Nigeria, to manage its internal conflicts. Research methodology: This study is qualitative. It analyzed secondary data on Nigeria’s Fourth Republic to explain the management of intra-party conflicts in the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Results: It found that the AD was able to record remarkable successes in the 1998/1999 general elections as a result of its internal mechanism for mediation, bargaining, consultations, and negotiations among the party members. However, its inability to employ effective management strategies to settle internal crises before and after the 2003 general elections signaled the loss of its status as one of the leading parties in the country. Limitations: Despite being the main opposition party in the 1999 general elections, literature on the AD is scanty. This limited insights into events that culminated in the AD’s loss of status as a frontline political party in Nigeria. Contribution: It enriches the literature on the causes of intra-party conflicts and the effects of mismanaging such conflicts on party stability. It also provides deep insights into the reasons for AD’s loss of status from being the main opposition party in Nigeria between 1999 and 2003 to being deregistered in 2020. Keywords: 1. intra-party conflicts 2. management strategies 3. political parties 4. party primaries 5. party stability

Assessing the Effect of Federal Universities Academics and National Youth Service Corps Members on the Conduct of General Elections in Nigeria

This study examined issues that necessitated the use of federal universities academics and national youth service corps members in the conduct of general elections in Nigeria and discussed the credibility of election management with their involvement. It also interrogated the effectiveness and challenges of using them by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The study utilised primary data that was collected through semi-structured interviews with thirty respondents. Secondary data was sourced from periodicals, journals, election manuals, and electoral act of 2010 as amended. The data collected were analysed using content analysis. The study showed that the need to sanitize the electoral system informed the use of universities academics and national youth service corps members. The study also showed that the academics and national youth service corps members have facilitated the credibility of the electoral system and that the activities of desperate politicians who are driven by the lust for political power are some of the challenges faced in using university academics and national youth service corps members. It is suggested that the current use of universities academics and national youth service corps members in the conduct of future elections should be sustained.
 
 Received: 5 August 2021 / Accepted: 30 september 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) AND THE PROCESS OF ELECTORAL CONDUCT IN NIGERIA: THE PHENOMENON OF ELECTION POSTPONEMENT AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE OUTCOME AND PERFORMANCE OF THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION

This study investigates the effects of election postponement on the outcome and performance of the 2019 General Election, as well as practices of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Process of Electoral Conduct in Nigeria. The study adopts a case study design and utilizes a qualitative approach in which both primary and secondary data were collected/engaged. The data were analysed and interpreted, using thematic analytical process. The main findings reveal that postponement of general election in Nigeria is gradually becoming the norm and/or a re-occurrence practice. It was also found that the postponement did impact negatively on the outcome and performance of the same, arising from low voters’ turnout. Crucially, it also observes that the country suffered economic loss worth billions of Naira. The study suggests a fully funded and equipped INEC with all its needs and logistics provided and three months to a year period provided, before elections are conducted could be an important panacea.

The Infallibility of Supreme Court Verdicts and Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria

The Supreme Court is final not because it is infallible; but it is infallible because it is final” – this status quo of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and its application in various electoral cases, especially in the just concluded 2019 general elections in Nigeria has aroused mixed feelings and raised questions on the credibility of the Nigerian Judiciary and its capability of enshrining sustainable democracy in Nigeria. Meanwhile, according to the report of the Kayode Eso Panel on Reform of the Judiciary, the mindset of an average Nigerian is that “the Nigerian Judiciary hardly redeems itself from the unfortunate image it acquired during the military interregnum when it was described as a judiciary in patent chaos, riddled with corrupt Judges and in need of urgent and radical reform”. This study which sought to explore the infallibility of the Supreme Court and sustainable democracy in Nigeria; the effect of the infallibility of the Supreme Court verdicts on sustainable democracy in Nigeria; and the effects of bribery and corruption of the Supreme Court Justices on sustainable democracy in Nigeria, is an exploratory research which employed qualitative method of research and adopted the Transitional Jurisprudence Model as propounded by Ruti Teitel (2015) to analyze these. The study found that the bribery and corruption of the Supreme Court Justices has significant effect on sustainable democracy in Nigeria; and that the infallibility of the Supreme Court verdicts have significant effect on sustainable democracy in Nigeria. The study recommends among others that there is need for the independence and accountability of the Judiciary with the other arms of the government in Nigeria.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF APC AND PDP CAMPAIGNS DURING THE 2015 AND 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA

The study focuses on the use of social media in the 2015/2019 general elections in Nigeria. The study focuses on how the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and APC (All Progressive Congress) made use of social media in political mobilization, political communication and spreading information in the two general elections. In the course of the study, several literatures and researches about the elections and use of social media in Nigeria were studied to get different perspectives of how the political parties made use of several social media platforms in their political campaigns. Based on the study it was found out that both parties made use of twitter more than any other platform for political mobilization, communication and campaign. The use of party sponsored hashtags was prevalent in the political process while social media influencers were majorly used by party officials. False propagandas shared by both political parties were prevalent in the political process using social media as the appropriate tool. Social media was also used by supporters of both parties, civil societies, electorates and the electoral commission to monitor the electoral processes in the different polling areas. Keywords: Social media, general election, Twitter, democracy, communication, political mobilization . DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/96-09 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

Insecurity and the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria

Insecurity and the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria

Encouraging Popular Political Participation and Effective Election Monitoring Through Whatsapp Social Media Platforms

Nigeria and Nigerians have witnessed different kinds of electoral frauds since the return to democracy in 1999. Counting from the 1999 general election in Nigeria, the 2019 general election is the 6th general elections conducted in the country. Unfortunately, none of these elections have been considered to be free and fair as there are always public outcries from one end to another against the results of the elections as a result of lack of transparency in the process. Drawing from this background, this study, examines whether heavy use of WhatsApp platforms by different political parties in the election encouraged popular participation and effective monitoring of the electoral processes. The study which examined a total of 318 respondents sampled from select WhatsApp groups of the two leading political parties adopted the survey research method with the social media engagement and technological acceptance theories as its theoretical framework to ascertain whether the use of WhatsApp platforms by political parties encouraged popular participation among the electorate and determine if WhatsApp platforms were helpful to parties in monitoring the 2019 general election as well as its processes. Findings revealed that WhatsApp use encouraged popular participation and electoral process monitoring. The researchers recommended that the political parties and the electoral umpire should engage more in the use of social media platforms in passing information during, on and after election to encourage transparency in leadership.

INEC AND Flawed Intra-Party Democracy In The 2019 General Elections In Nigeria: Implications For Democratic Consolidation

Discussions on electoral politics in Nigeria often revolve around the institutional weakness of Nigerian political parties including their disdain for internal democracy as a drawback of democratic consolidation in the country.

Election Violence and Voter Turnout in 2019 General Elections: What Role for Political Parties?

This study examines the incidence of electoral violence and its resultant effects on voter turnout in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria, with the role of political parties as the focal point of discussion. A review of election data shows; voter turnout has been on the decline from 69% in 2003 to 35% in 2019. While a handful of factors could be responsible, the study ascribes its prevalence to the antic’s political parties (incumbent and opposition) and politicians who deliberately deploy violence as an electoral strategy. To account for the relationship between, political parties, electoral violence and voter turn-out, the study builds on theories of voter mobilization in and advanced and emerging democracies. Against this, it concludes in the absence of enduring party-voter relations in Nigeria, political parties and politicians alike, resort to vote buying, mobilization of political thugs and in other times deployment of state coercive apparatus to intimidate opponents all of which culminates into electoral irregularities which has the potency to instigate electoral violence. This in turn has in amongst others adversely affected voter turn-out as rightly observed over five electoral cycles.

Developing market-oriented politics in Nigeria: a review of the 2019 presidential election

ABSTRACT The dynamic features of the 2015 presidential elections in Nigeria in which the opposition party candidate unseated the incumbent for the first time with little or no rigorous, expensive post-election litigations reveal the potential emergence and influence of political marketing in Nigerian politics. This paper argued that the market-oriented approach, the purposeful, coordinated, and strategic use of marketing communication media and tools contributed to the success of All Progressive Congress (APC) at the 2015 presidential polls. The evolution of voter-centric election campaigns indicates that marketing and communication professionals and strategies, rather than violence and electoral fraud, have dominated and will continue to dictate the outcomes of political elections in Nigeria. This study, therefore, reviewed the 2019 presidential election (the next election after the 2015 general election in Nigeria) to establish if the anticipated voter-centric election is evident. With experts interviews, direct observations, and secondary materials, we found that the 2019 presidential election was extremely monetised, violent, and fraught with all manners of electoral misconducts that are antithetical to the principles and practice of political marketing. We aver that electioneering in Nigeria is not market-driven and voter-centric.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF APC AND PDP CAMPAIGNS DURING THE 2015 AND 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA

The study focuses on the use of social media in the 2015/2019 general elections in Nigeria. The study focuses on how the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and APC (All Progressive Congress) made use of social media in political mobilization, political communication and spreading information in the two general elections. In the course of the study, several literatures and researches about the elections and use of social media in Nigeria were studied to get different perspectives of how the political parties made use of several social media platforms in their political campaigns. Based on the study it was found out that both parties made use of twitter more than any other platform for political mobilization, communication and campaign. The use of party sponsored hashtags was prevalent in the political process while social media influencers were majorly used by party officials. False propagandas shared by both political parties were prevalent in the political process using social media as the appropriate tool. Social media was also used by supporters of both parties, civil societies, electorates and the electoral commission to monitor the electoral processes in the different polling areas. Keywords: Social media, general election, Twitter, democracy, communication, political mobilization . DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/96-09 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

Campaigns and Electioneering: Reflecting on the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria

Historically, campaigns are recognized as vital part of electioneering. This is because the message sent across to the electorate during campaign contains the ideas that the candidate wants to share with the voters. This is specifically aimed at getting those who agree with their ideas to support them when running for a political position. The message often consists of several talking points about policy issues. The points summarize the main ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression with the voters. However, a study of the situation in Nigeria, with specific reference to the 2015 Campaigns and Electioneering, revealed the contrary with hate speeches as the main theme. Data obtained from primary and secondary sources were deployed to carry out the study with an analytical and narrative historical method. Findings indicate that unlike what is obtainable in other parts of the world where democracy is practiced, with policy issues forming the backbone of campaign message, the Nigerian situation was basically on persons, character assassination, violence and abuses (hate) speeches. The paper argues that this campaign strategy often leads to electoral violence before, during and after elections. The paper therefore concludes that only campaigns that are issue based can guarantee peaceful and credible elections in Nigeria.

Legitimating falsehood in social media: A discourse analysis of political fake news

Digital peddling of fake news is influential to persuasive political participation, with veritable social media platforms. Social media, with their instantaneous and widespread usage, have been exploited by ‘anonymous’ political influencers who fabricate and inundate internet community with unverified and false information. Using van Leeuwen’s Discourse Legitimation approach and insights from Discourse Analysis, this study analyses 120 purposively sampled fake news posts on Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter, shared during the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. WhatsApp allows for the easy and fast sharing of fake news as it pulled the largest occurrence of legitimation strategies, followed by Facebook. Authorisation is the highest occurring legitimation strategy at 46.6% frequency; this is followed by Moralisation which has 27% and Rationalisation at 26.4%; while Mythopoesis did not feature at all in the sampled data, leaving it at 0%. In particular, expert and role model authority are most often deployed to validate fake news such as the demise and cloning of President Buhari, ruling party’s plan to rig and destabilise the 2019 election, massive corruption in the current administration and imminent ethnic violence. The study argues that these strategies are viable persuasive tools owing to their use of discourse markers like make-believe images, emotive language, appeal to emotions, rational conclusions, hateful comments, verbal indictment and coercive verbs.

Digital Media and Political Participation among Nigerian Youths in the 2019 General Elections

Every era in life throws up its own opportunities and challenges, and here we are, in a digital era made possible by advancements in information and communication technologies. That being the case, it will amount to self-deceit for anybody in this era to pretend that the advancements in information and communication technologies do not have any effects on the political, social, cultural and religious lives of the people. At the political arena, the advent of digital media has brought about an entirely different type of politicking and campaigns referred to as digital political campaigns. This type of campaign permits politicians to reach out to the electorate through digital platforms without necessarily embarking on rallies. As a matter of truth, the technologies of those digital media and their resultant online platforms have not only bridged the communication gap between content-creators and content-consumers; but have even gone a long way in turning the communication process into a more interactive, participatory and democratic dialogue. Thus, the public communication sphere has been flung wide-open for public participation without restrictions. By the very nature of the digital media (interactive, participatory and democratic); it could be assumed that anybody with an internet-enabled device can become a partaker in the communication process. But such an assumption may forever remain conjecture until it is connected or experimented upon. To that end, this study investigated the use of digital media for political participation in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. It adopted the survey method of research to determine: (i) the most-frequently-used digital media for political participation of Nigerian youths in the 2019 elections (ii) the amount of time Nigerian youths spent on the digital media for political participation in the 2019 elections (iii) the number of times Nigerian youths visited the digital media for political participation in the 2019 elections (iv) the gratifications which Nigerian youths sought from the digital media and (v) the relationship between use of the digital media and political-needs gratification among Nigerian youths.