Ethno-religious voting pattern and government appointments in Nigeria: a focus on 2011,2015 and 2019 post presidential elections

Abstract

Three presidential election cycles in Nigeria’s recent history of power transition were respectively replete with interesting trends and dynamics. One of the remarkable was the euphoria of identity consciousness shared in these polls. This discourse therefore examines outcome of 2011, 2015 and 2019 presidential elections with the aim to establish the illusion or reality of ethno-religious voting pattern in government appointments. The methodology of the study is qualitative exploratory design which underscored the import of documentary source and Key Informant Interview (KII) or Process Tracing PT which involves conducting personal interviews and Focus Group Discussion, FGD with knowledgeable person as procedures for data collection. The data collected were textually analyzed and showed a significant correlation between ethno-religious voting pattern of Nigerians and lopsided government appointments after 2011, 2015 and 2019 presidential elections although in different scale. From the findings the discourse recommend for national rebirth advocacy, vote for pan-Nigerian presidential candidate, making violation of federal character an impeachable offence, civil society alertness etc as among the measures to mitigate ethno-religious voting and lopsided government appointments.