Abstract
This paper critically examined the impasse of violence marring Nigeria’s electoral process
and the implication for human security and safety. Election violence has been conceptualized
as a form of political violence that involve widespread destruction of lives and property of
members and supporters of opposing political parties and they usually occur during or
immediately after general elections especially if the announced results did not reflect popular
wishes. Available literature revealed that in Nigeria, except for the annulled June 12, 1993
Presidential election which was adjudged free, fair and credible, most elections conducted in
the country since independence were far from being credible (Alanamu, 2005:11-12).
Distorted election is characterized by voters register padding, vote rigging, illegal
manipulation of ballot, stuffing of ballot box, intimidation and bribery of voters and electoral
officers, vote buying, altering and spoiling of ballots during counting process and falsely
reporting the count, by individual or groups, for the purpose of winning more votes than they
otherwise could. These are reflections of what has characterized Nigeria political party system.
The paper envisaged that if political office holders do not see politics as a do or die affair and
embrace adherence to the letters and spirit of electoral governance and management laws,
election violence will disappear from the polity. The paper recommends targeted reforms of
the Electoral system such as enhanced capacity building, initiatives, innovative mechanisms
like transparent governance through e/digital compliance monitoring of elections. The
research highlights the need to embed sustainability through safeguards and robust social
responsibility policies to ensure long-term sectoral resilience.