Politics and Violence in Nigeria: An Assessment of the 2019 General Elections in Taraba State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Political campaigns are synonymous with political and electoral violence in Nigeria and Taraba State in particular. The 2019 general elections came with a character of its own in the context of prevailing political dynamics and the security atmosphere exacerbated by kidnappings, farmers/herders conflicts, rising youth restiveness and political thuggery in the State. This paper examines the links between political campaigns and electoral violence. The paper further argues that political parties lack ideologies and manifestoes which make candidates to base their campaigns on primordial sentiments of region, religion and ethnicity as core campaign factors rather than issue-based approach. Lack of ideologies and manifestoes are identified as being responsible for electoral violence or the use of political thugs, ethnic militia, INEC officials and manipulation of security agencies by the political gladiators during political campaigns and elections to capture power. The methodology adopted in gathering data was survey while data analysis was qualitative. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. Findings reveal that most cases of political violence emanate from the electoral process, particularly political campaigns. The problem was more pronounced in the 2019 election in Taraba State. The study reveals that the major causes of the phenomenon include ethno-religious and regional issues exacerbated by voter illiteracy, unhealthy campaign slogans and utterances, intimidation, among others. The paper therefore recommends that for electoral violence to be eschewed in our politics, political parties must be ideological and articulated in their manifestoes, campaigns of issue-based, respect for the provision on campaigns as contained in the Electoral Act 2010, punishment of electoral offenders and banning of political thuggery in the electoral process.