The 2023 Presidential Elections in Nigeria: Voting Patterns, Controversies and Recommendations

Abstract

Democracy is largely dependent on elections. Democracy might become less valuable and appealing without regular polls. Nevertheless, several factors, including technological anomalies, same-faith tickets, the aftermath of the End SARS pandemic, and the marginalisation of ethnic minorities, influenced the recently concluded 2023presidential and national assembly elections. These factors also gave rise to several political prophecies and ecclesiastical innuendos, ethnic tension, a heightened level of ethnic politics, mutual suspicions among Nigerians, and mistrust of the political process. This paper's primary focus is on examining the numerous nuances that impacted the results of the 2023 presidential and national assembly elections. In addition to other reliable secondary sources such as books, journals, magazines, national dailies, and articles, the paper used a content analysis approach. When suitable, statistical data can also serve as empirical evidence. Our findings indicate that the winner-take-all scenario, fiscal centralization, and financial incentives tied to political positions are the primary reasons why most of the observed complexities are detrimental to free, fair, credible, and transparent elections in Nigeria. The report suggests that the impartial Electoral Commission (INEC) carry out a public and impartial assessment of its success in organizing credible and fair general elections in 2023 and expedite the development of a strong electoral process through technological advancements.