Electionrelated violence is not limited to physical violence but includes other coercive means, such as the threat of violence, intimidation and harassment. Electoral institutions and electoral violence in subsaharan africa volume 46 issue 2 hanne fjelde, kristine hoglund. The media has a critical role to play in curbing postelection violence in nigeria, writes ojo m. This article examines the nigerian postelection violence with regard to the ways in which. This article identifies poverty, a culture of impunity, weak penalties, a lack of effective governance, and small arms proliferation, amongst others. Overviewin february 2015, the author wrote an update to this memo to reflect recent developments in nigeria. Postelection violence and the media nigerian democratic.
Electoral violence in nigeria has two broad dimensions, physical and psychological. In fact, recent manifestations of electoral violence, most importantly since the birth of the fourth republic in 1999 have assumed an unprecedented magnitude and changing form, resulting in instability in democratic consolidation as well as the loss and displacement of many innocent lives. This presupposes that electoral violence cuts across different stages of election starting from the registration period to post election period. The military and the nigerian societybackground to june 12 election of 199314the emergence of chief m. Introduction it is apposite to state that political violence is the hallmarks of weakly institutionalize politics. We use cookies to make interactions with our website easy and meaningful, to better. To know the remote and immediate causes of the post election violence in april 2011 general election in kaduna state. According to human rights watch about 140 were killed in political violence before the election alone, between november 2010 until 17 april 2011, the day after the election. The international media looks at this crisis through the lenses of ethnic cleansing and a fight for tribal supremacy between the luo and the kikuyu. Related material download pdf file of this report 61 pages, 219 kb download pdf of. When nigeria went to the polls in 2011, a period of intense postelection violence left over 800 dead and thousands more displaced. For example, nigeria, in 2003 federal election, at least 100 people were killed and many more were injured, 600 people were reported killed in the december 2007 presidential election. Thirdly, the postelection violence that erupted after the announcement of jonathan as winner claimed the lives of about 800 innocent people in northern nigeria human rights watch, 2011. Also, there were gross irregularities in the conduct of the elections that precipitated the military to stage a coup that ended nigeria s first democratic experiment.
The role of elections in emerging democracies and post conflict countries key issues, lessons learned and dilemmas elections have become a major factor in the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies and post conflict countries. The nigeria security tracker nst expanded its coverage to election related violence just prior to the 2015 elections. The link between electoral violence and nigerias 2003 and 2007 elections is analysed based on hoglunds analytical framework of electoral violence, as well as its applicability to the nigerian political situation. Political and economic effects of postelection violence on national. To examine whether 2011 general election were free and fair from the perspective views of kaduna state. More than 250,000 people were internally displaced, made refugees in their own country. During the 196465 elections, politicians were involved in wide scale murder, kidnapping and arson. As nigeria becomes more aware of its ability to assert itself, the wall street imperialists do not aim to reconquer and rebuild. Post election violence where there is persistent and sustained sense of election fraud. Sep 21, 2010 overviewin february 2015, the author wrote an update to this memo to reflect recent developments in nigeria. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan experience. Zimbabwe held its national elections on the 30th of july 2018. Electoral institutions and electoral violence in subsaharan. Electoral violence in nigeria council on foreign relations.
Postelection violence erupts in nigeria united states. Thus, political violence has been a major roadblock to democratic stability in nigeria. Nigerias election history has always been marred by various levels of violence at the pre, during and post election phases, with high consequences including deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihood as was witnessed in the. Causes of electoral violence the causes of electoral violence are multifaceted, and can. Postelection violence where there is persistent and sustained sense of. Nov 22, 2017 why do some elections in africa turn violent. The paper is written against the backdrop that, periodic elections are fundamental to the principles of democracy. Second, sad memories of the 2011 post election violence and its accompanying heavy casualties created fear among many nigerians. Deadly electionrelated and communal violence in northern nigeria following the april 2011 presidential voting left more than 800 people dead, human. Electoral violence in nigeria is caused by electoral fraud and manipulation of figures and data to deny the rightful winners their popular mandates given to them and certified by the elec toral process. Trends in electoral violence in nigeria, rasak bamidele2.
The historical trajectory of electoral process in the post colonial nigerian is characterised by violence. One way of understanding postelection violence and the possible mediarelated imperatives is to look at the variety of contexts in which it can occur. Election violence in nigeria dates back over a hundred years, from the days of indirect rule under great britain to postindependence and a series of military regimes. In this post, we compare violence from the 2015 national elections, starting. Postelection assessment of conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms in nigeria. The research did not include terrorist attacks by islamic or militant groups with. The government of nigeria should draw upon the lessons learned from the 2007. Between 2011 and 2015, nigeria had gone through tough times. Second, sad memories of the 2011 postelection violence and its accompanying heavy casualties created fear among many nigerians. Electoral violence has regularly been reported in nigeria and manifests in the 3 electoral stages, namely pre election, during election and post election, in various forms. Postmortem reactions or elite conspiracy the violence that greeted the announcement of president goodluck ebale jonathan by.
Postelection violence and the media nigerian democratic report. Best practices for the prevention of electoral violence reliefweb. The postelection period 39 the complaints process 39. The recent 2016 post election crisis in gabon12 that left scores dead seems to shows that electoral violence is an intractable phenomenon on the. This paper examines the political violence and democratic stability in nigeria. In 2011, over 800 people were killed as a result of electionrelated and communal.
Pdf issues of electoral violence in nigeria find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Given that past incidents of violence are seen as an indicator of the potential for future bloodshed, many fear that a similar outcome. To investigate the effect of post election violence on the economic development of kaduna state. Reporting on electoral violence in nigerian news media. This incidence of election violence in africa is so high that even an election considered being free, fair and transparent the outcome may not have been free of violence. Arguably, the most prominent and visible form of violence, physical electoral violence has remained a recurring theme in the five general election in nigeria. In the postelection stage, politicians may destroy electoral.
Postelection assessment of conflict prevention and. Nigeria is a country of overlapping regional, religious, and ethnic divisions. Young supporters of the runnerup, former president muhammadu buhari, claim that the elections were rigged and that jonathan was not the true winner. Postelection violence killed 800 human rights watch. Electoral violence and the survival of democracy in.
Nigeria, systems of government, electionsvoting, violence, executive. In this lecture, i show that in order to understand the causes of postelection violence in nigeria, one needs to understand not only the nature of elections in nigeria, the impartiality of the. The 2011 post election violence, acknowledged as the bloodiest election induced violence. The implication perspective frankcollins nnamdi okafor. By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of postelection violence. Mapping, evolution and patterns june 2006 may 2014 executive summary an analysis of the nigeria watch database for the period between june 2006 and may 2014 revealed 915 fatal incidents related to elections.
More than a dozen such elections will take place in 2010 and early 2011. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan. One way of understanding post election violence and the possible mediarelated imperatives is to look at the variety of contexts in which it can occur. The major thrust of this paper shall be geared towards analyzing both the preelection and postelection violence at the. The implication perspective frankcollins nnamdi okafor associate professor and head, department of political science, nnamdi azikiwe university, nigeria abstract following the outbursts of violence in previous elections in nigeria, fears have been. Such violence could also be a postelection phenomenon which comes consequent on the manipulation of election results. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah. Electoral violence reared its ugly head again during the highly. When nigeria went to the polls in 2011, a period of intense post election violence left over 800 dead and thousands more displaced. Violence broke out across nigeria between supporters of the two candidates.
The participants critically analyzed the preelection recommendations developed during the. First is the perception of historic marginalization by certain ethnic groups as a consequence of. Here, you will see the history of electoral violence in nigeria, factors responsible for electoral violence in nigeria, effects of electoral violence in nigeria as well as solutions to electoral violence in nigeria way forward. Jonathans base of support is the christian communities of the southern regions. Up to 1,000 people could have died in post election violence. It is an attempt to willfully compromise the integ. An empirical examination of existing theories gregory wallsworth october 28, 2015 abstract recent studies of election violence in africa found violence mars as many as 80 percent of african elections.
As i detail in this book, more than half of all elections held in africa experience some form of violence or intimidation either. Introduction the problem of postelection violence seems to be evermore present as complexities of nationbuilding and. Caleb maupin is a political analyst and activist based in new york. Report of the commission of inquiry into the 1 august 2018. Politics and election in ondo state5endnotes12chapter two. Political violence, which constitutes a major challenge to stability in nigeria and africa in general, is a combination of pre and postelection.
Origins and response the april 2011 elections were considered to be one of nigerias fairest polls. Commission nhrc, electionrelated violence killed 58 people between december 2014 and february 2015. Election violence in nigeria is not inevitable icrtop blog. Mar 03, 2015 the presidential committee on post election violence that was set up by president jonathan to investigate the cause of the 2011 violence had indicted buhari, stating that his provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that also led to the death of 10 members of the national youth service corps nysc in bauchi state.
The electoral process was generally peaceful until the 1st of august 2018, when many demonstrators took to the streets of harare demanding the immediate release of the election results. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah gabriel sous dir. Election related violence is not limited to physical violence but includes other coercive means, such as the threat of violence, intimidation and harassment. Most of the violence occurred after the election, as the results of the presidential poll began to become. Nigerias 2011 polls will mark the fourth multiparty election in nigeria and, if a power. Nigerias economic development, based on a close relationship with communistled china, is a clear illustration of this. The presidential committee on postelection violence that was set up by president jonathan to investigate the cause of the 2011 violence had indicted buhari, stating that his provocative remarks played a role in the bloody violence that also led to the death of 10 members of the national youth service corps nysc in bauchi state. The incidence of electoral violence in nigeria is as plethora as they.
Breaking the cycle of electoral violence in nigeria united states. Lagos, nigeria cnn roughly 17,000 people fled their homes in eight northern nigerian states as violence erupted after presidential elections in africas most populous nation, the nigerian red. In this post, we will discus the issues behind electoral violence in nigeria. Politics as war the human rights impact and causes of postelection violence in rivers state, nigeria. The role of elections in emerging democracies and postconflict countries key issues, lessons learned and dilemmas elections have become a major factor in the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies and postconflict countries. Electoral violence and the survival of democracy in nigeria.
The 2011 postelection violence, acknowledged as the bloodiest electioninduced violence. An appraisal of precipitating factors in nigeria olayiwola victor ojo m sc political science, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria abstract nigerias electoral politics from independence has been tumultuous. Buhari had refused to condemn possible violent reaction to the election result, which has been interpreted as an invitation to his supporters to riot. It also looks at the effects of instability and violence in nigerian society and proffers a number of solutions. Nigeria s election history has always been marred by various levels of violence at the pre, during and post election phases, with high consequences including deaths, displacement and destruction of livelihood as was witnessed in the 2011 general elections. In this lecture, i show that in order to understand the causes of post election violence in nigeria, one needs to understand not only the nature of elections in nigeria, the impartiality of the. The role of elections in emerging democracies and post. An assessment of post election violence in nigeria. Media, elections and political violence in eastern africa.
Some nigerian experts think we are once again at the cusp of a major national crisis and that the signs are in the electoral map of nigeria, drawn from this election that seems to have highlighted. Lesson for 2015 general election osimen goddy uwa, ologunowa christopher sunday department of political science and international relations, achievers university, owo, nigeria i. O abiola and alhaji bashir tofa17election, election result and annulment of june. Nigeria, in 2003 federal election, at least 100 people were killed and many. Elections in africa are periods in which the stability and security of african states hangs in the balance, due to the threat of election violence ibid. Political violence over elections has been the phenomenon occurrence in nigeria s democratic environment and to an extent the causes of such violence are been accredited to electoral frauds and manipulations. Electoral institutions and electoral violence in sub. By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of post election violence. Given that past incidents of violence are seen as an indicator of the potential for future bloodshed, many fear that a similar outcome will come to pass when the now postponed elections are held on march 28 th 2015. Political violence, democratic stability, nigeria, election.
676 116 241 297 1318 1200 460 1095 419 133 102 509 1128 104 1418 1426 310 401 217 897 1297 177 770 904 866 851 1317 19 1180 412 1317 890 932 200