University of Nigeria Journal of Political Economy

Inclusive Democracy or Political Exclusion? Examining the Participation of Persons with Physical Disabilities in Anambra State’s Democratic Process

Confidence Onyeka Chukwuemezie — 2026-08-09

Democracy is expected to ensure inclusion, equal participation, and fair representation for all citizens. However, the experience of persons with physical disabilities in Anambra State shows that these ideals are not fully achieved in practice. This study examined the extent of their participation in the democratic process, with specific focus on their involvement in elections and governance, as well as the barriers that limit their engagement. A qualitative approach was adopted, using in-depth interviews and secondary data from policy documents, electoral guidelines, and relevant literature. The data were analysed thematically to identify key patterns and issues. The findings reveal that while many persons with physical disabilities are politically aware and participate in voting, their overall level of engagement remains limited. Participation beyond voting, such as involvement in decision-making and leadership, is very low. The study identified several interconnected barriers, including inaccessible infrastructure, transportation challenges, especially during election-day movement restrictions, negative societal attitudes, weak implementation of inclusive policies, economic constraints, and lack of political representation. These challenges reflect structural and social limitations rather than individual incapacity. The study concludes that although Nigeria has made some progress in promoting inclusive democratic frameworks, meaningful inclusion of persons with physical disabilities is still limited. For democracy to be truly consolidated, there is a need for stronger implementation of policies, improved accessibility, and deliberate efforts to promote active participation and representation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political life.

Electoral violence in Nigeria

Lamidi Kehinde Felix — 2026-08-17

Electoral violence remains one of the most persistent threats to democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Despite continuous electoral reforms implemented by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), elections in Nigeria are frequently characterized by voter intimidation, ballot snatching, political thuggery, ethnic mobilization, and post-election conflicts. These recurrent patterns of violence undermine public trust in democratic institutions, weaken political participation, and threaten the sustainability and inclusiveness of the democratic system. While existing scholarship has largely focused on institutional weaknesses, elite manipulation, poverty, and security failures as drivers of electoral violence, comparatively limited attention has been given to the preventive and transformative role of voter education. This study interrogates the nexus between electoral violence and voter education in Nigeria, arguing that comprehensive, participatory, and continuous voter education constitutes a strategic mechanism for promoting peaceful political engagement and democratic sustainability. Anchored in Democratic Consolidation Theory and Civic Culture Theory, the study adopts a qualitative research design, drawing on secondary data sources including electoral reports, policy documents, scholarly literature, and documented election violence cases across multiple electoral cycles. The analysis explores how inadequate voter awareness, misinformation, low civic competence, and weak democratic norms contribute to susceptibility to political manipulation and violence. Findings indicate that voter education in Nigeria has largely been episodic, election-centred, and insufficiently community-driven, limiting its capacity to transform political attitudes and behaviour. The paper concludes that sustainable and inclusive democracy in Nigeria cannot be achieved solely through legal and institutional reforms; rather, it requires deliberate investment in long-term civic reorientation and grassroots voter engagement strategies.

An assessment of Voter Behaviour and Voter Dynamics as a Tool for Consolidating Democracy in Nigeria

Gaadi Jacob Iorhen — 2026-08-17

This study critically examines voter behaviour and voter dynamics as mechanisms for democratic consolidation in Nigeria - Africa’s most populous nation and a key democratic experiment on the continent - and evaluates the extent to which they have contributed to the consolidation of democracy. Despite holding regular elections since 1999, Nigeria’s democracy remains fragile, characterized by electoral violence, weak institutions, and pervasive voter apathy which has resulted in lack of inclusiveness in Nigeria. The paper evaluates trends in voter turnout, determinants of electoral participation, and their implications for democratic legitimacy. Through a political economy lens, this study argues that understanding and strategically engaging voter behavior – which in Nigeria, has been shaped by ethnic, religious, economic, and institutional factors - can strengthen democratic consolidation. It explores theoretical perspectives on voter behaviour, contextualizes Nigerian electoral politics historically, and analyzes empirical patterns of turnout, party identification, ethnicity, religion, clientelism. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, the study finds that while Nigeria has institutionalized electoral democracy, declining voter turnout, vote buying, and identity-based politics continue to undermine democratic consolidation. The study argues that, while voter behaviour has gradually shifted from purely primordial loyalties towards more issue- and performance‑based considerations in some urban and educated constituencies; the dominant logics of ethnic-regional alignment, vote buying, political godfatherism, and distrust in electoral institutions; significantly constrains democratic consolidation. The paper draws on empirical data, historical analysis, and comparative case studies to propose policy interventions that could enhance voter education, institutional trust, and inclusive participation. It concludes that Nigeria has made modest but uneven progress and in Nigeria, voter dynamics are tools of elite manipulation but they can be turned into instruments of popular accountability. The paper concludes that sustainable democracy in Nigeria depends on strengthening electoral institutions, improving civic engagement, and addressing structural socio-economic challenges.

Geopolitics and Nigeria's Political Emancipation: External Influences, Strategic Interests, and the Struggle for Sovereign Autonomy

Emmanuel Selome FASINU — 2026-08-09

With an emphasis on external influences, strategic interests, and the quest for sovereign autonomy,
this study investigated the relationship between geopolitics and Nigeria's political emancipation. Nigeria has been formally independent since 1960, but it still has to deal with complicated regional and international forces that limit its ability to make independent decisions. The study focused on government documents, policy statements, and academic literature using a qualitative research design and a case study approach to examine how transnational actors—such as global powers, multinational corporations, and international financial institutions—interact with domestic governance structures to affect policy outcomes. The analysis was guided by the complex interdependence theory theoretical framework, which emphasised the multifaceted and negotiated nature of sovereignty in a globalised environment. The results showed that whereas external pressures offer diplomatic and developmental opportunities, they frequently result in dependency that restricts political liberation. However, Nigeria must strike a balance between ambition and compromise since strategic interests, especially in regional leadership, oil resources, and security cooperation, act as both sources of influence and constraints. Realising true autonomy is made more difficult by internal governance issues, such as institutional inefficiencies and inconsistent policies. The study emphasised that political emancipation depends on the relationship between domestic capabilities and foreign pressures rather than being absolute or static. By connecting theoretical ideas with empirical realities in Africa and providing conceptual and practical routes for promoting sovereignty through institutional development, diverse alliances, and coherent policy alignment, the research advances global knowledge. Scholars, decision-makers, and practitioners interested in state-building, foreign policy, and sovereignty in modern international relations may find these conclusions pertinent.

Between Prospect and Realism: Cognitive Biases, Emotions, and the ECOWAS-AES Diplomatic Fallout

Leonard Ifeanyi Ugwu Jr — 2026-08-09

The fragmentation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), following the September 2023 Charter of Liptako-Gourma that established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), serves as a real-world case for studying how emotional biases and feelings impact diplomatic negotiations. Contributing to the emerging debate on bloc polarization in West Africa, this study evaluates the ECOWAS-AES diplomatic fallout through psycho-political lenses, focusing on escalating tensions characterized by sanctions and defiant responses from both parties. Drawing on prospect theory in psychology and political realism, this study argues that leading actors in ECOWAS and AES allowed confirmation bias, perceived threats, overconfidence, and the sunk cost fallacy to create flawed decision-making processes, leading them to overestimate their authority. The research demonstrates that groupthink reinforced existing biases, while loss aversion encouraged high-risk decisions, jointly undermining the traditional rational decision-making approaches of ECOWAS-AES diplomats. The study recommends incorporating psychological competence into diplomatic practice through emotional intelligence training and awareness of implicit biases.

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the fight against internet fraud in Nigeria

Kalu Ebei Kingsley — 2026-08-09

Internet fraud, popularly known in Nigeria as "Yahoo-Yahoo," has grown from a peripheral nuisance into a threat that shapes the country's economic performance, banking stability, and international reputation. This article re-examines the role of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in combating internet fraud in Nigeria, updating the evidentiary base to 2025 to capture the effect of recent legal reforms, notably the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024. Guided by Deterrence Theory and a time-series research design, the study relies on documentary sources, EFCC annual disclosures, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) fraud reports, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) briefings, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports, analysed through qualitative content analysis. The findings show that the EFCC's technological capacity, including the Integrated Intelligence and Investigation System (I-24/7), forensic laboratories, and biometric surveillance tools, has improved detection and prosecution, with convictions rising from 103 in 2015 to a record 4,111
in 2024 and recoveries exceeding ₦364.6 billion in the same year. However, the study finds that the EFCC's regulatory framework continues to rely overwhelmingly on reactive, force-based interventions, mass arrests and raids, rather than preventive, structural reforms, even as internet fraud arrests remained the single largest category of EFCC enforcement action in 2024. The persistence of resource constraints, jurisdictional overlaps with the Nigeria Police Force's Cybercrime Unit and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the socio-economic drivers of youth involvement in cybercrime continue to blunt deterrence. The article concludes that a hybrid strategy combining sustained technological investment, harmonised inter-agency regulation, and socio-economic intervention for at-risk youth is required for durable results, and offers policy recommendations accordingly.

Regional, Ethnic, and Religious Cleavages in the Context of the Dominant Party System

Ambrose Ihekwoaba EGWIM — 2026-08-09

Eminent scholars and statesmen have argued that a practical way to mitigate the political influence of ethnicity, religion, and regionalism in Nigerian/African politics is to adopt a one-party system, or at most a two-party system. A belief that factions (ethnicity, religion, regionalism) and political competition will disappear with the demise of rival parties. Experience from the Nigerian Fourth Republic, starting in 1999, shows that a dominant party may emerge from democratic elections. The question is whether these parties also have a nationalistic, integrative element, as supporters of dominant or two-party systems claim. Have one or two dominant national parties whittled down regionalism and ethno-religious cleavages in Nigerian politics? There seems to be a connection among ethnicity, religion, regional cleavages, intra-party political competition, and party system dynamics in Nigeria, despite the dominance of the party(ies). This relates to the inability of the dominant party(ies) to manage ethno-religious cleavages and regional politics effectively.

The 2023 Nigerian presidential election and the question of political credibility

Kalu Nnaemeka Uduma — 2026-08-09

Nigeria's political environment is characterized by poverty, unemployment, underemployment, social and political marginalization, and other intolerable human issues which have been blamed as the root causes of electoral violence in Nigeria. This paper identified the challenges that hindered the conduct of a credible 2023 presidential elections and also recommended strategies for conducting credible presidential elections in the future. Survey research design was applied for the study. The area of the study was in University of Nigeria. The population of the study is 250 respondents which consist of 42 Public Administration lecturers and 208 first year students from the department of Public Administration, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The entire population of 250 respondents was used as the sample for the study. Structured questionnaire was designed for data collection. The study found among others that ineffectiveness of security forces and culture of impunity and weak penalties against electoral act offenders are among the challenges that hindered the effective conduct of a credible 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. The study recommended among others that a bill for the establishment of Electoral Offenses Commission should be passed. This will help in the speedy trial of electoral offenders to serve as deterrent to future offenders.