POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN NIGERIA’S DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS: AN APPRAISAL OF THE 2019 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION IN KWARA STATE

Abstract

Political participation and elections as well as voting behavior are pivotal to democracy and democratic regimes across the globe. In Nigeria, the factors that have contributed in shaping the participation and voting behaviour of the electorate in elections are political and socioeconomic settings as well as historical background of the country. This manifested specifically in the gubernatorial elections that took place in Kwara state in 2019. It offers insight into political participation and voting behavior in the 2019 Gubernatorial Election in Kwara state, determined the outcome of the election and the winner. Using Kwara State as a case study, the paper adopted Focus Group Discussion and as well relied on anecdotal evidence on voting behavior to obtain qualitative data on voting behavior across the Senatorial Districts of the state. It is within the purview of the paper that there was a sharp variation in the usual pattern of voting in the state, which had been patrilineal since its creation, in the 2019 gubernatorial election and provided rationale for this occurrence. Findings from this research revealed that poor governance in Kwara state prior to the election averted the age long voting behavior in the state. Thus the 2019 gubernatorial election showed a radical change from inter-generational transfer of political affiliation to issue-based politics. It underscored the place of good governance in electoral behavior and

recommended that for good leadership and governance, the electorate should be re- orientated to focus their choice of leaders on performance, accountability and transparency.