VOTERS’ BEHAVIOUR AND PERCEPTIONS DURING ELECTION PERIOD IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF EDO STATE

Abstract

Nigeria, a sovereign nation, more than anything else, has the greatest obstacle to her nascent democracy as the neglect of voters’ behaviour and education. This datum has negative impacts on the electoral process and by extension the nation building as evidenced in the spates of armed robbery attacks, political assassinations, religious conflicts, political thuggery, rigging, and myriads of electoral malpractices among other social vices. The seeming helplessness of security agencies to handle criminal acts in the country is obvious in many ways. Democracy should be a celebration of an involved public. This paper examines the effects of Voters’ behaviour and perceptions during the election period in Nigeria using Edo State as a case study. Political activities all over the world and particularly in Nigeria often provide the philosophical drive, and in some cases, the front-line troops for social change, including revolutions and resolutions for good governance.. The paper went on to evaluate the election period in the light of the interaction and dynamism within the system, stakeholders in the electoral process and the ability to know their behaviour and perceptions on violent and credible elections in Nigeria..  Hypotheses were postulated and the Political Communication Theory was used to explicate the work.  Data were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. From the primary sources, the survey method, that is, the use of questionnaires were designed and adopted. Data obtained from this method were analyzed with the aid of Simple Percentage.  Thereafter, the five researchable hypotheses were tested and accepted while the null hypotheses were rejected.  The implication is that there is a relationship between the dependent and independent variables.  Generally, the paper discovered a task that must be done with collective efforts of all stakeholders for the growth and development of Nigeria. In the light of this finding, the work suggests policy formulations and implementations which are aimed at repositioning the future elections in Nigeria in general and Edo State in particular. Finally, this study concludes that all stakeholders in the federal polity should thread softly, be objective, rational, altruistic and magnanimous in order not to make the existence of true federalism (social, education, political and democratic cohesive existence of the people, peace and tranquility) a fleeting illusion and a mirage.