POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTION VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA, 2007-2019: A HISTORICAL EVALUATION

Abstract

Political parties are one of the major pillars of democracy. This is because it helps in the peaceful transition from one political dispensation to another. Political parties are expected to serve as an agent of change, peace and national unity as its members are drawn from across the nation irrespective of tribe, ethnic background or religious affiliation. But in the recent times political parties have been found to be involved in escalating political cum electoral violence in Nigeria. The youth wing of some political parties now serve as an agent of pre, during and post-election violence. Party thugs are so glaring that it is easy to identify which party that parades the most active and dreaded thugs in the political system. Why do political parties involve in election violence and what are the implication to democratic stability in Nigeria? Methodologically, this paper adopts the historical analysis approach while data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The paper finds out that political parties involve in election violence in order to win election and perpetuate their party in government. The paper concludes that to minimize the rate of political parties involvement in election violence, there is need for electoral reforms that will inculcate new provisions as a way to checkmate electoral violence and prosecute political parties who perpetrate or sponsor of electoral violence.