THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION IN NIGERIA: A CAVEAT SIGHTED BUT JETTISONED

Abstract

The fraudulent notoriety of the electoral process in Nigeria is an ugly trend that undermines the democratic tenets. The democratic experience in Nigeria is a parody when juxtaposed with ideal democracies which the country tends to copy. Therefore, this paper looks into the 2023 presidential poll taking into consideration the introduction of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal which opened a new page that is more technologically driven compared to the previous usage of the smart card reader device. The paper also examined major trajectories that shaped the 2023 election, ranging from the Obidient movement, religious sentiments, subversion of the electoral process, hate speech to vote buying. The study found out that caveats sighted in Nigeria are often jettisoned and nothing or little is done to avert the looming danger. It further discovers that the 2023 poll is the worst in terms of voter’s turnout and the most keenly contested which broke the usual two-horse race. The 2023 election is second only to the 1979 poll in terms of margin of victory between the winner and the runner up. Secondary data was largely utilized in the study.