ELECTIONEERING AND VIOLENT CRIME RATE IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF IBESIKPO ASUTAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The persistent occurrence of election-related violence, characterised by illegal weapon use, obstruction of electoral processes, and voter intimidation, continues to undermine democratic governance and increase violent crime in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. This study examined the relationship between electioneering and violent crime rate in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on Social Structure and Anomie Theory. A descriptive survey design was adopted. The study population comprised 89,000 registered voters in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select respondents, while a structured questionnaire served as the instrument for data collection. Of the 398 copies of questionnaire administered, 380 were successfully retrieved and analysed. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, while simple linear regression analysis was employed to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that electioneering significantly encourages the use of illegal weapons (β = .742, t = 21.450, p < .001), significantly obstructs the electoral process (β = .756, t = 22.446, p < .001), and significantly promotes voter intimidation (β = .769, t = 23.772, p < .001) in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. The study concludes that electioneering remains a major driver of violent crime and electoral insecurity, undermining democratic governance and public confidence in elections. The study recommends that INEC and security agencies strengthen electoral security through intelligence-led policing and strict enforcement of electoral laws, political actors involved in electoral violence should be promptly prosecuted, and government should expand youth empowerment and civic education programmes to reduce political thuggery, voter intimidation, and election-related violence.