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ABSTRACT
One of the main cardinals of liberal democracy is periodic, free and fair elections championed and executed by the people as owners of the state. It is within this context that elections are crucial to the survival of democracy since it embodies popular participation, accountability, probity, legitimacy and transparency. It therefore implies that any form of electoral violence violates these core principles of liberal democracy. Nigeria has had its fair share of electoral violence since independence, enthroning unpopular candidates and eroding public trust and participation. This study set out to examine electoral violence and democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections in Edo and Delta States. The study was motivated by the mixed reactions trailing the standing of Nigeria’s democracy as whether it is consolidated, consolidating or retrogressing particularly after the 2015 general elections that allowed for the introduction and deployment of technology and subsequent conceding of defeat by an incumbent president and 2019 general elections that furthered this narrative. The study chose Edo State as a case study given its popularity as one of the hotspots for electoral violence in any election season in Nigeria. The study utilized a stratified random sampling technique to divide Edo and Delta States into three senatorial districts from where two Local Government Areas each of the three senatorial districts were purposively selected based on previous reports of prevalence of electoral violence. A total of 2043 randomly selected respondents were surveyed through an open and closed ended questionnaire. Relying on the theory of structural functionalism that argued for a place for strong institutions in democratic consolidation, and elite theory that examined the role of elites in democratic consolidation, the study interrogated three objectives, to: determine what the triggers of electoral violence in Edo and Delta States during 2023 general elections were; determine the role of political institutions in electoral violence and democratic consolidation in 2023 general elections Edo and Delta States; and determine the role of money in electoral violence and democratic consolidation in 2023 general elections Edo and Delta States. It was also hypothesized that there is no significant relationship between electoral violence and democratic consolidation in Edo and Delta States and there is no significant relationship between financial inducement and democratic consolidation in Edo and Delta States. The study found that there were incidences of electoral violence during the 2023 election in Edo and Delta States that were triggered by elite’s penchant for power, poverty, illiteracy and voter’s inducement. The study found a significant relationship between money politics or financial inducement and electoral violence in the 2023 general election and a significant relationship between political institutions and electoral violence. It was therefore concluded that electoral violence that occurred during the 2023 general elections impacted democratic consolidation in Edo and Delta States and Nigeria. The study therefore recommended among others, that there is need for strong institutional framework in Nigerian electoral system without unnecessary elite interference; the need for proper checks on the volume of money used in elections; the need for constitutional amendment wherein candidates that came second and third in any election in Nigeria would have a particular constitutional position reserved for them; and lastly the need to start thinking of having staggered presidential and governorship elections in Nigeria.
