Campaign Slogan and the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria: An Evaluation of the Economic Situation in the Country and the Impact of 'We Won't Give Shishi' Slogan of the Labour Party

This paper examined Political Campaign Slogan and the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria vis-a-vis the impact of 'We won't give Shishi' in canvassing for votes which played a vital role at the countdown to the elections. The data collected for this paper were obtained from secondary sources. Political economy theory was adopted for this work to evaluate the economic situation in Nigeria prior to and during the 2023 general elections. The findings of the study revealed that to some extent, conscience voting characterized the elections. On the other hand, the political behaviour known as vote buying, anchored on either promised payment or immediate payment transpired during the elections. The paper concluded that over the years, vote buying has been the status quo in Nigeria’s political space which is a pointer to the existing economic hardship vis-à-vis bad governance in the country. Consequently, the paper recommended that a piece of legislation meant to implement such voting, tied to the slogan should be sponsored in the Nigeria’s national assembly. Also, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should as a matter of urgency embark on an aggressive public sensitization on why this kind of voting should be imbibed by the electorates; and the danger involved in vote buying syndrome before, during and after elections as well as the need to abstain from such political behaviour. Received: 2 August 2025 / Accepted: 8 September 2025 / Published: 04 October 2025