JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

Over the years, the Nigeria electoral process had been characterized by massive violence. The 2019 general elections was the sixth multi-party and the third hand over of Civilian administration since the beginning of the Fourth Republic democratic dispensation in Nigeria. The account of electoral process in Nigeria cannot be complete without making reference to electoral violence. This violence has become a permanent feature of electoral processes in Nigeria. From independence till date, there has never been any election adjudged absolutely free and fair as far as Nigeria is concerned save the one purportedly won by chief MKO Abiola in 1993. This paper examined electoral violence and its general implications on the democratization process in the country, with special emphasis on the 2003 general elections. Methodologically, the paper adopts the historical analysis method while data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The paper argues that the high incidence of pre and post electoral violence in the country in the period under study has to do with the way Nigerian politicians regard politics, the weak political institutions and weak electoral umpire as well as the compromising nature of the security agencies. The paper therefore recommends that to reduce the high rate of violence associated with elections, politicians must eschew the politics of do or die.