Electoral violence in Nigeria: The role of the youth and the position of the law

Abstract

Violence appears to be plaguing virtually all facets of human existence today. In Nigeria, one form of violence that is predominant, yet seasonal, is electoral violence. Though seasonal, electoral violence has pervaded the Nigerian public space to the extent that many other forms of violence could, remotely or immediately, be linked to it. Mostly during election seasons, and directly in connection with the elections, so much violence is perpetrated in Nigeria, and with levity and reckless abandon. This work identifies that it is mostly members of the youth segment of the Nigerian populace that perpetrate electoral violence. Very often, they do this without check, and actually, get away with it. This paper points to the fact that the Nigerian electoral commission, known as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and with it, the electoral tribunals often gloss over their duties in the exercise of their criminal electoral jurisdiction conferred upon them by the Electoral Act, 2010(as amended). This work advises that Election tribunals should invoke their powers under section 149 of the Act to make recommendations to the commission for the prosecution of persons disclosed in an election petition to have committed an electoral offence. As a critical stakeholder in the campaign against electoral violence, this work argues that the media is also encouraged to give prominence to the prosecution of cases of electoral violence, and, indeed, other electoral crimes. The position of this paper shall be canvassed relying on extant laws/statutes and adopting the critical textual analysis method.