ELECTIONEERING PROCESS AND MANIFESTATION OF VIOLENCE AND CRIMINALITY

Since Nigeria's independence, elections have been a highly contentious affair characterized by violence and criminality that has discouraged peace-loving and change-thirsty Nigerians from exercising their voting rights. The use of coercion, rigging, and vote buying among other veritable tools by political actors to seize power or mandate disenfranchises and alienates the electorates. Despite considerable measures taken by the government and the hapless citizenry to nick electoral violence in the bud, it appears that this multifaceted problem has not been tackled holistically; therefore the menace remains unabated. Thus this study examines electioneering processes, manifestation of violence and criminality