The nexus of voters education and political participation in democratic Nigerian elections

Abstract

This article examines the nexus of voters' education and political participation in the democratic Nigerian elections. The need for the citizens to understand the importance of receiving the right education about elections and also involving in political development must be addressed. Democratic process and people's engagement in elections are important factors to build a country. The effect of voter education will motivate the electorate to participate in various elections in Nigeria. The exploratory research method and secondary data were applied through historical and explorative studies and secondary data from articles, journals, government gazettes, and internet sources. The Nigerian state has witnessed various elections, but some flaws have impeded some of the elections due to low turnout by the people who vote. Nigerian voter education is a nonpartisan platform where people can learn more about their rights and responsibilities as voters in Nigeria. Over twenty years after the Fourth Republic of Nigeria in 1999, it is widely believed that while democracy appears to be surviving, development and results have been slow. The essence of maintaining better political participation of the people in elections is connected to the level of voter’s education, which can pave way for involvement in peaceful elections in the country. The challenges observed are political interference and lack of funding in strengthening voter education activities by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This study concludes that the federal government should put in place voters' education mechanism at all levels and create better funding strategy to enlighten the citizenry on the need to get involved in voting activities for the political development in Nigeria.