Election, Electoral Violence and Political Development in Nigeria

Electoral violence has dominated Nigeria’s pre and post-1999 democratic trajectory. In view of this, some scholarly works are replete with literature on electoral violence and elections, but little attention has been given to electoral violence and political development in Nigeria. This article analysed how electoral violence has shaped political development and also examined its implications on Nigeria’s political development. A qualitative research design was utilised while the Frustration-Aggression theory guided its theoretical underpinning. The article drew its information from secondary data such as textbooks, scholarly journals, internet resources and newspapers. The data culled from these sources were subjected to content analysis. The paper revealed that electoral violence shaped political development through incessant proliferation of electoral acts and reforms. The paper also revealed, in a theoretical insight, that politics is not seen as a ‘public good’ but is associated with warfare, economic gains, inculcation of a military ethos, which makes the citizens exhibit a culture of electoral violence. These have implications of threatening political stability and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. The paper, however, concluded that the incessant electoral violence associated with Nigeria’s politics remains unresolved and indeed, a clear reflection of the retrogressive nature of political development in Nigeria. It was recommended that the government and citizens promote and internalise a culture of good governance to deter electoral violence in Nigeria.