Inconclusive elections in Nigeria and its security implications: Righting the wrongs in 2023

Abstract

The string of disputed elections in Nigeria has posed a significant threat to the country’s efforts to consolidate democracy. In representative democracies, inconclusive elections are a quite frequent occurrence. But in Nigeria, they are sometimes stage-managed and permitted to occur in order to further the deliberate goals of power centers. Consequently, the causes and solutions of Nigeria’s recent political growth are critically examined in this paper. This paper uses a mixed method research design that includes both quantitative and qualitative data collection and descriptive analysis. It has been determined through a thorough review of the literature that electoral violence and malpractice together are to blame for the nation’s rising voter turnout and disputed electoral legitimacy. According to the findings, Nigeria must immediately implement comprehensive electoral reform in order to establish a new electoral system built on digital election technology. This will produce leaders who lack originality and who are worthy of purposeful leadership and good governance, as self-serving leaders are disastrous for any country.

Keywords

• Democracy
• election
• inconclusive election
• electoral violence
• politics