SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS : Reflections from Criminology

Multiparty elections have become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged and the spread of these systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent's progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence following disputed results. While the consequences of such violence can be profound, undermining the legitimacy of the democratic process and in some cases plunging countries into civil war or renewed dictatorship, little is known about the causes. By mapping, analyzing and comparing instances if election violence in different localities across Africa, this collection of detailed case studies sheds light on the underlying dynamics and subnational causes behind electoral conflicts, revealing them to be the result of a complex interplay between democratization and the older, patronage-based system of "Big man" politics. INTRODUCTION There have been several cases of insecurities during elections in Nigeria as most of the elections in Nigeria are characterize by violence and intimidation of opponents, selection of aspirant is not based on merit which is creating problem to our young and nascent democracy. In addition to the above, the economic situation is not stable, there is a lot of people dying of hunger and starvation in Nigeria, this is common in the past election most people even go to the extent of thumb printing on ballot papers throughout the night when official voting has not started, this is a cardinal point of rigging an election using the INEC officials to supply voting materials to top politicians in a particular area, hence a resident electoral commissioner of INEC do visit a big name (Politician) in its territory of jurisdiction as a mark of loyalty to pave way for smooth flow of their corrupt tendency perpetuated at the pulls. Also, Thuggery is rampant in the aspect of Nigerian youths, today most politicians have thugs whom they use to disrupt election and steal ballot boxes from pulling stations, these are jobless youths who are trying to earn a living from dubious antecedents, these are the same youths who they use in carrying out their nefarious activities ranging from political rallies, political assassination etcetera (The Guardian, 2015). Elections are central to competitive politics of the modern era especially under the “third wave” of democracy (Jega, 2015, 2013; Momah, 2016:40; Obianyo, 2008:42). And during transitional period “elections will be not just a foundation stone but a key generator overtime of further democratic reforms” (Carothers, 2002:8). Some observers have argued that regular elections and the associated political rights and civil liberties being experienced in new Attoh, F., & Okeke, E. J. (2019). SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS: Reflections from Criminology. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(2) 71-89. 72 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.62.6055. democracies like Nigeria are an indication of democratic progress and optimism (Agbu, 2016; Lynch and Crawford, 2011; Posner and Young, 2007; Uddhammar et al, 2011). In Nigeria as in much of Africa, “electoral competition is becoming more common” (Weghorst and Lindberg, 2011:1208). Regular conduct of elections is not only “central to democratization”, but also “contributes to the maturation of nascent democratic cultures” (Bratton, 2004:155). For as Lindberg avers, “an uninterrupted series of competitive elections imbues society with certain democratic qualitiesnamely participation, competition and legitimacy” (Lindberg, 2006b:139). Unfortunately, “In Nigeria, however, elections have been one of the main problems of the democratic process” (Omotola, 2010:535). The conduct of free and fair elections has always been a problem which continues to threaten the very survival of the country and questions the relevance of democracy (Agbu, 2016:4). Indeed, “the problems associated with elections have direct impact on the performance of democratic institutions” (Wapmuk, 2016:99). The Nigerian Government acknowledges that, “Controversies over highly rigged elections have been the forerunner to political violence and instability in Nigeria” (FGN, 2014b:39). From the forgoing, it is pertinent we note that, the process of democratization and survival of Nigeria as a country must start from the act of properly planning and executing elections in Nigeria. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The need for Nigeria to put in place reliable security measures during elections cannot be overemphasized. Having elections where security issues are encountered tend to have massive effect on the confidence of voters because these electorates gradually loose the trust they have in their votes because they believe their votes may not be counted due to the security issues encountered. Overtime in Nigeria, government has not been putting in place enough security personals that could comfortably eradicate or at least curb the issues that threaten security during elections. Until this issue is solved, development may not occur at a rapid rate in the country. The paper therefore focuses on security and 2019 elections, drawing examples from previous elections that have been held in the country in a bid to understand the dynamics of security in Nigeria and most importantly to proffer solutions and avoid reoccurrence. To address the issues in context the paper seeks answers to the following questions: What are the causes of election violence in Nigeria? What are the roles of security agencies in election in Nigeria? What are the ways of improving the situation? THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING Anifowose (1982), provides us with three of such theoretical explanation that can be used either collectively or individually to explain election related violence. These are: 1. The relative deprivation, rising expectations and frustration-aggression hypothesis; 2. The systematic hypothesis; and 3. The group conflict hypothesis Although, the three hypotheses have their relevance in explaining election related violence, it must however be mentioned that, the first hypothesis, the relative deprivation, rising expectations and frustration-aggression theory aptly explains why electorate most a time, react negatively and spontaneously through demonstration, riots and arson when their expectations do not tally with outcome of election results which are believed to have been Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.6, Issue 2 Feb-2019 Copyright © Society for Science and Education, United Kingdom 73 manipulated. Such were the cases during the 1964 general elections, 1965 Western Regional election and the 1983 general elections. The only way to avoid such related crisis is to secure the confidence of the electorate through impartiality and transparency in the conduct of elections. The two other hypotheses better explain political violence holistically both in their social and group contexts. Apart from these hypotheses, one other approach that have reliably explained election related violence such as the use of thugs during elections, snatching of ballot boxes, intimidation and assassination of politicalopponents, is the political economy approach. Scholars like Claude Ake, Bade Onimode, Julius Inhovbere and others have impressively employed this approach to explain why the Nigerian political class holds unto political power so tenacity, not minding the means or methods used. Among the reasons given by these scholars for this political altitude is that the political class relies heavily on political power in order to accumulate wealth fraudulently, and since the political class has no economic base, everything, ranging from elections to assassination of political rivals must be done to remain in power. INSECURITIES AND ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA There are clearly difficulties in understanding and conceptualizing dynamics of prevailing electoral insecurity. A situation in which electoral chaos dominates the electoral process, this undoubtedly causes both policy and analytical problems for scholars who recognize election to be an organized system of choosing political office holder as representatives of the people (Alapiki, 2000). However, the separation of security from election is inherently problematic as there is inherent interrelationship. Since the viability of the electoral system is determined by the political environment, election should be termed free, fair and credible to the extent that security is maintained in line with stipulated electoral guidelines, law and order. Election is a creation of the Nigerian colonial state. It is tied to the quest for political office and power acquisition. In postcolonial Nigeria, studies on election and security have emerged to offer a serious challenge to the dynamics of electoral system in Nigeria (Ogundiya and Baba, 2005; Mohammed, 2007), which largely seeks to investigate the institutional and individual apparatus deployed in the conduct of elections, and in particular the extent dominant power relations and elite interest results in violence and its security implications to the wider development of the society. In recognition of the complex nature of election, there have been divergent understanding and conceptual exploration of the term leading to a number of useful debates on the failure of the Nigerian State to conduct free, fair, credible and violent free elections since the return to democracy. The poor transition debate argues that election has largely failed to be transformational due to inadequate transition (Diamond, 1997). The contention has been that both the political office seekers and the electorates are rarely given adequate education on the function and basis for elections resulting in poor conduct of elections. Diamond (1997) recounts that the return to democracy in most developing countries has been largely a transitory phase in which through repeated practices democracy deepening and consolidation could be achieved. In this particular context, the electorates directly or indirectly elect their representatives who are accountable to them. Beyond this ideal notion, the basis of the argument is that the electorates are stakeholders in the electoral process. The reason for the renewed interest in election and security is perhaps informed by the panic and fear that arises in the polity whenever election comes up and in particular the problem it has created towards evolving a true democracy in which the wishes of the people could be allowed to prevail untampered by the elite whose political interests are often paramount. This Attoh, F., & Okeke, E. J. (2019). SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS: Reflections from Criminology. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(2) 71-89. 74 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.62.6055. has often resulted in the conceptualization of election within the context of violence and its possible effects on democracy consolidation. For instance, Ogundiya and Baba (2005) argued that electoral violence in Nigeria has been a central factor in evaluating the prospects and challenges of democracy consolidation in Nigeria. They chronicled a number of electoral crisis and violence pointing to the relevance of security. This trend also partly accounts for the increasing pressure within Nigeria for free, fair and credible elections. Thus, the return to democracy had opened to a number of political trends in Nigeria such as multi-party system, periodic elections, novel electoral enlightenment or voter education suggestive of democracy resurgence. Beyond these, how nascent democracy has fostered transparency in elections is less conceptualized. A major concern is how election could redirect the political orientation of both political office seekers and the electorates in line with the changing political system created by democracy. It becomes important to examine what the literature is saying about election in Nigeria and understand its salient implications for development and policy options. At the conceptual level, there are divergent terminological uses of the term election in the literature. Most debates point out that election is central on selecting public office seekers and beyond that determines the quality of government. Egwu (2014, p.1) recounts that elections lie at the heart of representative democracy and constitute a mirror of the peoples understanding and appreciation of democratic norms. A number of factors determine the credibility or otherwise of elections which calls for closer look at the dynamics of the conduct of elections and in particular, how available literature is saying about the term election. To capture these conceptual debates, research on election applies a wide range of issues, stemming from various disciplinary backgrounds and operating on various levels of government notably ward, local, state and national. While this divergent background makes it difficult to adopt a one for all conceptual perspective of election, particular attention is paid to attempts at conceptual clarifications which could be useful to create novel insights. Gwinn and Norton (1992) argue that election is the formal process of selection of a person for public office or accepting or registering a political proposition by voting. They contend that election is one of the means by which a society ay organize itself and make specified formal decisions they argue that where voting is free, it acts as a springboard for making rational decisions regarding the power relations in a society and as a method for political allegiance and sacrifice of the individual freedom. There are debates which link election with exclusive individual choice. For instance, Eya(2003) recounts that election is seen as the selection of a person or persons for office as by ballot and making choice between alternatives. There are studies in the literature which argue that electoral politics in Nigeria has been likened to war fare (Adekanya, 1989; Ake, 2001; Ogundiya and Baba, 2007). Equally, attentions in the literature have also been drawn to the prospects and challenges of democratization in Nigeria, Jega (2006, p.5) provides an outline of the constitutive elements of the liberal democratic tradition‘as follows; Representation: freedom to choose ‘Participation: getting involved ‘Responsive and responsible/accountable government, Equality before the law transparency and accountability in public conduct. Debates espousing the persistent challenge of poor democracy culture and issues of democracy deepening have reinforced useful insights in understanding the persistent electoral crisis in post 1999 elections in Nigeria (Ogundiya and Baba, 2007). Part of the challenge of democracy transformation and institutionalization of democracy culture has been the nature of the western styled democracy which is alien to the Africa traditional setting as Ake (1993) pointed Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.6, Issue 2 Feb-2019 Copyright © Society for Science and Education, United Kingdom 75 out that Western type democracy is inappropriate that what is needed is that democracy which provides people with power to decide their affairs. This has been the consequence of democracy failures in Nigeria as the patterns of democracy has been riddled with imperfections and contradictions often at variance with the ideals of liberal democracy (Ibeanu, 2007) Diamond(1997,p.12) identified constitutive dimensions of democracy deepening which include deepening democratic structures to make the ore liberal, accessible, accountable and representative; strengthening the formal institution of democracy; including parties, legislatures, and the judicial system and improving regime performance, both economically and politically by maintaining order, safeguarding liberty and combating corruption. This informs and underpins the need for rethinking of both democracy and the electoral processes in Nigeria. Diamond, et al; (1999) had argued on the need for individual freedom as the basis for democracy as they contend that democracy encompasses extensive protection of individual and group freedoms, inclusive pluralism in civil society as well as party politics; civilian control of the military, institutions to hold officeholders accountable, and strong rule of law secured through an independent, impartial judiciary. Election thus, remains an integral part of democracy akin to features such as popular sovereignty or one man one vote, individual liberty or human rights, rule of law or supremacy of the constitution, party competition, the active participation of citizens in public participation through their electoral representatives directly or indirectly (Appadorai,1975). Understanding of election in Nigeria should transcend rhetoric and look at more practical terms and connection with everyday life of the people. Osaghae (2002.p.152) enumerates four related factors in Nigerian elections; (1) ―the ethno-regional character of the political parties and the zero sum nature of politics which compels politicians to seek to secure power by any means, fair or foul;(2)the manner in which electoral commissions are composed which does not insulate it from partisanship;(3)the misuse of State owned media by incumbent parties to the disadvantage of opponents and (4) the partisan use of police and other security forces. Regarding the conceptual exploration of security, the return to democracy in 1999 has increasingly created novel notions of understanding electoral security including the complexities associated with the carting of ballot boxes, buying of votes have resulted in concepts such as marketization or commodification of election (Ibeanu, 2007). The concept of election security suggests the existence of threats to the conduct of elections (Ighodalo, 2012). These security threats include malpractices such as: election rigging, snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, political intimidation and assassination prior to, during and after elections (Ighodalo, 2012). Bawa (2013) argues that election security involves actions or steps taken to secure the electoral process. Thus, security in electoral contexts can be conceptualized within the power relations imbedded in the dynamics of capitalist accumulation ethos in which the poor are used to articulate and actualize the political interest of the elite at the expense of the poor. Election is thus transformed into a mobilizing element not only for contesting of political office but also for false consciousness and access to state power within a context of competing and conflicting elite, in which various means (including violent) are devised as a modality for coordinating social forces to the interest of a particular group. Beyond the usual notion of electoral competition and access to power, patronage becomes germane in the electoral system (Joseph, 1992). The electoral system in Nigeria reflect the dynamic realities inter elite interests and relations through which the acquisition of power is actualized. Electoral security has also become a novel arena for demonstration of hooliganism Attoh, F., & Okeke, E. J. (2019). SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS: Reflections from Criminology. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(2) 71-89. 76 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.62.6055. conceptualized within the framework of arson and carting away of ballot boxes, use of fireworks and guns to intimidate perceived opponents. The conceptualization of election creates a tendency to engage in a somewhat peculiar abstract analysis of the relations between election and security and its wider interface with development. Amadi, et al; (2016) had argued that the elite fail to fully recognize the relevance of the youths in the economic development of the region, hence the perverse rise in youth restiveness in the region which had taken several forms in pre and postelection periods including militancy, abduction, vandalization of oil equipment etc. This trend has eaten into the fabric of the region as a result and largely accounts for repeated electoral violence as the youths are largely unemployed (UNEP, 2011). On this basis, the concept of marketization of election through the buying of votes for elections become a common practice among the political elites who pay money to secures more votes (Ibeanu, 2007). Within this state of affairs re-moralizing the political space becomes a big problem as the flawed system seems to hold sway against constitutional provisions of the electoral act. In this particular circumstance unemployed youths could hold on to the material inducements from the political class for survival irrespective of As Olurode and Haamanga (2013) argued that election is a security affair, getting it right boils down to economic development. Similar orientation can be found in the debates by Ibeanu and Jega (2007) who contend that election insecurity creates persistent systemic problems in the polity. It is clear that election has expanded to engulf the economic, rather than the entirely political conception of the practice. The logic of this strand stems from the logic of the fact that through political processes i.e. the election of the holders of political and economic powers (government) emerges to take key decisions encompassing economic and political. Thus the nexus between election, security and development is significant for a possible sustainable and equitable development of Nigeria. This nexus is clear with the evidence of poor governance and refusal of the elites to make the votes of the electorates count, hence perverse rise in economic hardship, youth unemployment and poverty (Egwu, 2014). This is a serious development issue, with adequate electoral security, the choice of the people prevails and in turn political accountability and transparency could be actualized. Outside this, the supposed development might be negatively impacted. This contention that electoral security facilitates economic development has a meaningful and relevant interface with this research , and is an essential a part of a pro people and prodevelopment version of popular claims about the constitutive centrality of election and development nexus . The key argument here is that security is key to a hitch free election and could systematically create to a large extent the desired fair playing ground for political office seekers. Jega (2006) contends that election creates an avenue for competitive quest for elective offices. Boucher (2008) re-echoes that the effect of this is that many of these theorists work within what he calls the charmed circle of ideology, which he uses to refer to post-Marxism‘s tendency to reduce politics and economics to ideological struggles. Thus, from this perspective and based on the expansive definition of election it is important to understand the need for security in the electoral process. These problems as the available literature suggest, have been identified in the spate of killings in elections in Nigeria including similar issues such as hooliganism and thuggery that currently characterizes elections in Nigeria. For instance, Ibeanu and Jega (2007) argue that electoral crisis has been to a large extent the resultant effect of poor electoral system This suggests that despite a firm rhetorical emphasis on election as central to democracy, there is a serious challenge linking the ongoing practice with effective security mechanism. The quest for acquisition of political power thus overrides electoral transparency with issues of bribery and electoral fraud as a common place since Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.6, Issue 2 Feb-2019 Copyright © Society for Science and Education, United Kingdom 77 nascent democracy in Nigeria. Ibeanu (2007) re-emphasizes the originally theoretical basis of the term machine politics to provide clearer understanding of what he termed primitive accumulation of votes. He builds on Smith and Zurcher (1944,p.190) which argued that a political machine is an organization controlled by a boss or a small coterie of leaders which subjects party organization and public officials to its will and operates efficiently and ruthlessly in exploring governmental activities of nearly every sort for the private gain of its members. Mohammed (2007) attempts to transcend his rendition of election in which votes must count. However, adequate apparatus to make votes count have been ineffectual resulting in irregularities. It is hard in my modest opinion to see how election could be free and fair without effective security apparatus. Security is integral to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections. The term election security seems not to have been satisfactorily put in proper scholarly perspective particularly in the developing societies. The security challenges have made politics generally a game for hoodlums (Joseph, 1992). Uganden (2010, p.90), argues that politics in Nigeria is particularly plagued with historically rooted ills that five decades of sovereign statehood have failed to eradicate. This points out the need for conceptual exploration of the concept of electoral security. The concept of electoral security provides a controversial discourse as studies in electoral security and party politics largely depend on a less clear conceptualization of the term (Olurode, 2013). Security is of great concern to all human beings (Klare, 1996). The realist school conceive security in military terms suggesting various forms of military response to security threats. With the end of the Cold War, the military focus of security had a shift from a number of perspectives. There has been a number of perspectives on security particularly at the individual level. This has seen the emergence of election security debate, jostling for disciplinary space in political science, but most closely associated with the understanding of the dynamics and nature of the conduct of elections. Electoral security is notable for its rearticulating of some of the conventional questions of political participation pertaining to elections, particularly the relationship of the electoral body such as INEC in the particular case of Nigeria with the electorates and the security forces, in a distinct manner that puts the domain of security frontal in the electoral process. In particular, election security has challenged the existence of real or latent threats to free, fair and credible elections, and has argued instead for the guarantee of the security of all stakeholders during elections (Olurode, 2013; Bawa, 2013). This orientation has given rise to a number of conceptual debates, including the changing forms of election such as electoral violence (Bawa, 2013), codification of election and the buying of votes, carting of ballot boxes, shooting and arson during elections. These insecurity triggers arising from the conduct of elections have vitiated the understanding of election as organized and systematic mode of choosing political office holders under a party label. This creates analytical tension and contradictions which have been problematic in discourses on elections. The treatment of election in Nigeria as a ―do or die affair has resulted in increasing need to conceptualize it from the perspective of security. This is particularly important as security threats have created distortions in the conduct of elections in Nigeria (Ogundiya, 2000). Debates on the emergent field of electoral security attempts to remedy deficiencies associated with the conduct of elections particularly on three fronts namely the protection of electoral materials, electoral officers and the electorates ( Olurode, 2013; Bawa, 2013) , as electoral security scholarship succeeds in providing novel scholarly arena to understand the dynamics of election and security, it fails to fully resolve the difficulties associated with the conceptual challenges of the term . This has resulted in attempts to examine studies linking election to security and to possibly create conceptual edge on the term electoral security and reaffirm the importance of such concepts in the electoral system of Nigeria. Thus, electoral Attoh, F., & Okeke, E. J. (2019). SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS: Reflections from Criminology. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(2) 71-89. 78 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.62.6055. security form part of a general vocabulary that people could deploy to understand the processes, practices and social relations which shape the electoral system. Yet, it has also been contentious as many political, economic and social factors that affect elections in security contexts have not been adequately examined. This opens this study to a number of future researches as well as important conceptual debates which have often affected the common basis of conceptual consensus on the term. Despite this, there is a widespread assumption that electoral security is integral to the success of elections. Igini (2013) provided some theoretical conception of elections and argued that election security is integral to the integrity of the overall conduct of elections including the electorates electoral personnel election materials contestants election monitors; observers and other stakeholders who participate in the electoral process On his part, Alapiki (2000) argued that the abuse of incumbency power has been a major trigger of electoral insecurity. According to Olurode and Haamanga (2013) electoral security constitute an integral element of the success of elections and represent an advance on electoral reform agenda in which the safety of the electorates are guaranteed before; during and after elections. This has given rise to the need for a critical re-engagement with electoral system in Nigeria beyond voting and being voted for in elections. Equally, while greater attention in the literature is paid to election, the impact of electoral processes and outcome on development is poorly examined from my research trajectories, I do not believe that economic development could be actualized without credible elections. That is, the restructuring of modes of carting of ballot boxes, use of fireworks to scare voters, shooting at both perceived opponents and the electorates, buying of votes, deploying of youths and at times the police in favour of a particular political office seeker etc. These problems which have been a re-occurring challenge since the return to democracy have not been adequately discussed in the literature on elections in Nigeria. This becomes particularly important since democracy deepening has been often termed a missing agenda in Africa‘s democracy (Ake, 2001). Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.6, Issue 2 Feb-2019 Copyright © Society for Science and Education, United Kingdom 79 DATA ANALYSIS Table1: showing in details the categorization of Violence related to Elections DIMENSION OF ELECTORAL VIOLENCE COMPONENTS PHYSICAL VIOLENCE • Physical assault on individuals during campaign, elections and when election results are released • Assassination of political opponents or people perceived as a threat to one’s political ambition • Burning down of public or opponent’s property and cars among other • Shooting, shoot outs • Killing of individuals • Partisan harassment by security agents, arrests, forceful dispersal of rallies, or shooting, wounding or killing of people • Kidnapping and hostage taking • Bombing of infrastructure • Forceful disruption by thugs at political and campaign rallies • Destruction of ballot boxes and ballot papers from polling agents • Free for all fight PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE • Threats against and harassment by security agents of opponents of the ruling regime or party, which create political apathy • Shoot-on-sight orders that breed fear in voters • Terror inflicted by political assassinations, which makes people scared to participate in politics or elections • Publication or broadcast of abusive, insulting, or intimidating material or advertorial • Threats to life through phone calls, text messages , etc. STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE • Coercion of citizens by government to register or vote or be denied certain national facilities • Exclusionary acts and policies • Unequal opportunities for political parties and candidates • Deliberate changes in dates, venue or times of events to the advantages of others • Partisan delimitation of electoral constituencies and location of pooling stations/booths • Excessive fees for the collection of party nomination forms • Absence of free campaign • Reliance on money and brute force instead of moral integrity and competence • Restraints imposed on voters • Use of the incumbency factor to give undue advantage to some candidates • Announcement of false or fraudulent results • Lengthy delays in announcing election results • Absence of adequate voting materials and electoral result forms • Delay in voting • Absence of electoral officers from polling booth at an appropriate time • Partisan behaviour of police and other security agents • Discriminatory acts and policies Source; update from Nwolise OBC , Electoral violence and Nigeria’s 2007 elections Journal of African Elections vol 6 No.2 October 2007 pp. 155-179 Attoh, F., & Okeke, E. J. (2019). SECURITY AND THE 2019 ELECTIONS: Reflections from Criminology. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 6(2) 71-89. 80 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.62.6055. Table 2: Ranking of states from highest to lowest prevalence of political/electoral fatalities (2006–2014) RANKING STATE NUMBER OF FATALITIES 1 PLATEAU 850 2 KADUNA 653 3 NASARAWA 258 4 RIVERS 181 5 KANO 152 6 DELTA 142 7 OYO 110 8 BENUE 109 9 KOGI 107 10 BAYELSA 93 11 AKWA IBOM 91 12 NIGER 86 13 BORNO 84 14 EDO 83 15 LAGOS 80 16 BAUCHI 63 17 TARABA 61 18 FCT 59 18 OSUN 59 19 ONDO 55 20 CROSS RIVER 54 21 KWARA 53 22 OGUN 51 23 ADAMAWA 49 24 IMO 45 25 ANAMBRA 38 26 KATSINA 37 27 GOMBE 33 28 EKITI 31 29 YOBE 29 30 ZAMFARA 25 31 ENUGU 24 32 KEBBI 23 32 ABIA 23 33 EBONYI 22 34 SOKOTO 11 35 JIGAWA 10


INTRODUCTION
There have been several cases of insecurities during elections in Nigeria as most of the elections in Nigeria are characterize by violence and intimidation of opponents, selection of aspirant is not based on merit which is creating problem to our young and nascent democracy. In addition to the above, the economic situation is not stable, there is a lot of people dying of hunger and starvation in Nigeria, this is common in the past election most people even go to the extent of thumb printing on ballot papers throughout the night when official voting has not started, this is a cardinal point of rigging an election using the INEC officials to supply voting materials to top politicians in a particular area, hence a resident electoral commissioner of INEC do visit a big name (Politician) in its territory of jurisdiction as a mark of loyalty to pave way for smooth flow of their corrupt tendency perpetuated at the pulls.
Also, Thuggery is rampant in the aspect of Nigerian youths, today most politicians have thugs whom they use to disrupt election and steal ballot boxes from pulling stations, these are jobless youths who are trying to earn a living from dubious antecedents, these are the same youths who they use in carrying out their nefarious activities ranging from political rallies, political assassination etcetera (The Guardian, 2015).
Elections are central to competitive politics of the modern era especially under the "third wave" of democracy (Jega, 2015(Jega, , 2013Momah, 2016:40;Obianyo, 2008:42). And during transitional period "elections will be not just a foundation stone but a key generator overtime of further democratic reforms" (Carothers, 2002:8). Some observers have argued that regular elections and the associated political rights and civil liberties being experienced in new manipulated. Such were the cases during the 1964 general elections, 1965 Western Regional election and the 1983 general elections. The only way to avoid such related crisis is to secure the confidence of the electorate through impartiality and transparency in the conduct of elections. The two other hypotheses better explain political violence holistically both in their social and group contexts. Apart from these hypotheses, one other approach that have reliably explained election related violence such as the use of thugs during elections, snatching of ballot boxes, intimidation and assassination of politicalopponents, is the political economy approach.
Scholars like Claude Ake, Bade Onimode, Julius Inhovbere and others have impressively employed this approach to explain why the Nigerian political class holds unto political power so tenacity, not minding the means or methods used. Among the reasons given by these scholars for this political altitude is that the political class relies heavily on political power in order to accumulate wealth fraudulently, and since the political class has no economic base, everything, ranging from elections to assassination of political rivals must be done to remain in power.

INSECURITIES AND ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
There are clearly difficulties in understanding and conceptualizing dynamics of prevailing electoral insecurity. A situation in which electoral chaos dominates the electoral process, this undoubtedly causes both policy and analytical problems for scholars who recognize election to be an organized system of choosing political office holder as representatives of the people (Alapiki, 2000). However, the separation of security from election is inherently problematic as there is inherent interrelationship. Since the viability of the electoral system is determined by the political environment, election should be termed free, fair and credible to the extent that security is maintained in line with stipulated electoral guidelines, law and order.
Election is a creation of the Nigerian colonial state. It is tied to the quest for political office and power acquisition. In post-colonial Nigeria, studies on election and security have emerged to offer a serious challenge to the dynamics of electoral system in Nigeria (Ogundiya and Baba, 2005;Mohammed, 2007), which largely seeks to investigate the institutional and individual apparatus deployed in the conduct of elections, and in particular the extent dominant power relations and elite interest results in violence and its security implications to the wider development of the society.
In recognition of the complex nature of election, there have been divergent understanding and conceptual exploration of the term leading to a number of useful debates on the failure of the Nigerian State to conduct free, fair, credible and violent free elections since the return to democracy. The poor transition debate argues that election has largely failed to be transformational due to inadequate transition (Diamond, 1997). The contention has been that both the political office seekers and the electorates are rarely given adequate education on the function and basis for elections resulting in poor conduct of elections. Diamond (1997) recounts that the return to democracy in most developing countries has been largely a transitory phase in which through repeated practices democracy deepening and consolidation could be achieved. In this particular context, the electorates directly or indirectly elect their representatives who are accountable to them. Beyond this ideal notion, the basis of the argument is that the electorates are stakeholders in the electoral process.
The reason for the renewed interest in election and security is perhaps informed by the panic and fear that arises in the polity whenever election comes up and in particular the problem it has created towards evolving a true democracy in which the wishes of the people could be allowed to prevail untampered by the elite whose political interests are often paramount. This has often resulted in the conceptualization of election within the context of violence and its possible effects on democracy consolidation. For instance, Ogundiya and Baba (2005) argued that electoral violence in Nigeria has been a central factor in evaluating the prospects and challenges of democracy consolidation in Nigeria. They chronicled a number of electoral crisis and violence pointing to the relevance of security. This trend also partly accounts for the increasing pressure within Nigeria for free, fair and credible elections. Thus, the return to democracy had opened to a number of political trends in Nigeria such as multi-party system, periodic elections, novel electoral enlightenment or voter education suggestive of democracy resurgence.
Beyond these, how nascent democracy has fostered transparency in elections is less conceptualized. A major concern is how election could redirect the political orientation of both political office seekers and the electorates in line with the changing political system created by democracy. It becomes important to examine what the literature is saying about election in Nigeria and understand its salient implications for development and policy options. At the conceptual level, there are divergent terminological uses of the term election in the literature. Most debates point out that election is central on selecting public office seekers and beyond that determines the quality of government. Egwu (2014, p.1) recounts that elections lie at the heart of representative democracy and constitute a mirror of the peoples understanding and appreciation of democratic norms. A number of factors determine the credibility or otherwise of elections which calls for closer look at the dynamics of the conduct of elections and in particular, how available literature is saying about the term election. To capture these conceptual debates, research on election applies a wide range of issues, stemming from various disciplinary backgrounds and operating on various levels of government notably ward, local, state and national. While this divergent background makes it difficult to adopt a one for all conceptual perspective of election, particular attention is paid to attempts at conceptual clarifications which could be useful to create novel insights. Gwinn and Norton (1992) argue that election is the formal process of selection of a person for public office or accepting or registering a political proposition by voting. They contend that election is one of the means by which a society ay organize itself and make specified formal decisions they argue that where voting is free, it acts as a springboard for making rational decisions regarding the power relations in a society and as a method for political allegiance and sacrifice of the individual freedom.
There are debates which link election with exclusive individual choice. For instance, Eya(2003) recounts that election is seen as the selection of a person or persons for office as by ballot and making choice between alternatives. There are studies in the literature which argue that electoral politics in Nigeria has been likened to war fare (Adekanya, 1989;Ake, 2001;Ogundiya and Baba, 2007).
Equally, attentions in the literature have also been drawn to the prospects and challenges of democratization in Nigeria, Jega (2006, p.5) provides an outline of the constitutive elements of the liberal democratic tradition'as follows; Representation: freedom to choose 'Participation: getting involved 'Responsive and responsible/accountable government, Equality before the law transparency and accountability in public conduct.
Debates espousing the persistent challenge of poor democracy culture and issues of democracy deepening have reinforced useful insights in understanding the persistent electoral crisis in post 1999 elections in Nigeria (Ogundiya and Baba, 2007). Part of the challenge of democracy transformation and institutionalization of democracy culture has been the nature of the western styled democracy which is alien to the Africa traditional setting as Ake (1993) pointed out that Western type democracy is inappropriate that what is needed is that democracy which provides people with power to decide their affairs. This has been the consequence of democracy failures in Nigeria as the patterns of democracy has been riddled with imperfections and contradictions often at variance with the ideals of liberal democracy (Ibeanu, 2007) Diamond(1997,p.12) identified constitutive dimensions of democracy deepening which include deepening democratic structures to make the ore liberal, accessible, accountable and representative; strengthening the formal institution of democracy; including parties, legislatures, and the judicial system and improving regime performance, both economically and politically by maintaining order, safeguarding liberty and combating corruption.
This informs and underpins the need for rethinking of both democracy and the electoral processes in Nigeria. Diamond, et al;(1999) had argued on the need for individual freedom as the basis for democracy as they contend that democracy encompasses extensive protection of individual and group freedoms, inclusive pluralism in civil society as well as party politics; civilian control of the military, institutions to hold officeholders accountable, and strong rule of law secured through an independent, impartial judiciary. Election thus, remains an integral part of democracy akin to features such as popular sovereignty or one man one vote, individual liberty or human rights, rule of law or supremacy of the constitution, party competition, the active participation of citizens in public participation through their electoral representatives directly or indirectly (Appadorai,1975).
Understanding of election in Nigeria should transcend rhetoric and look at more practical terms and connection with everyday life of the people. Osaghae (2002.p.152) enumerates four related factors in Nigerian elections; (1) -the ethno-regional character of the political parties and the zero sum nature of politics which compels politicians to seek to secure power by any means, fair or foul;(2)the manner in which electoral commissions are composed which does not insulate it from partisanship;(3)the misuse of State owned media by incumbent parties to the disadvantage of opponents and (4) the partisan use of police and other security forces. Regarding the conceptual exploration of security, the return to democracy in 1999 has increasingly created novel notions of understanding electoral security including the complexities associated with the carting of ballot boxes, buying of votes have resulted in concepts such as marketization or commodification of election (Ibeanu, 2007). The concept of election security suggests the existence of threats to the conduct of elections (Ighodalo, 2012).
These security threats include malpractices such as: election rigging, snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, political intimidation and assassination prior to, during and after elections (Ighodalo, 2012). Bawa (2013) argues that election security involves actions or steps taken to secure the electoral process. Thus, security in electoral contexts can be conceptualized within the power relations imbedded in the dynamics of capitalist accumulation ethos in which the poor are used to articulate and actualize the political interest of the elite at the expense of the poor. Election is thus transformed into a mobilizing element not only for contesting of political office but also for false consciousness and access to state power within a context of competing and conflicting elite, in which various means (including violent) are devised as a modality for coordinating social forces to the interest of a particular group.
Beyond the usual notion of electoral competition and access to power, patronage becomes germane in the electoral system (Joseph, 1992). The electoral system in Nigeria reflect the dynamic realities inter elite interests and relations through which the acquisition of power is actualized. Electoral security has also become a novel arena for demonstration of hooliganism conceptualized within the framework of arson and carting away of ballot boxes, use of fireworks and guns to intimidate perceived opponents.
The conceptualization of election creates a tendency to engage in a somewhat peculiar abstract analysis of the relations between election and security and its wider interface with development. Amadi, et al; had argued that the elite fail to fully recognize the relevance of the youths in the economic development of the region, hence the perverse rise in youth restiveness in the region which had taken several forms in pre and post-election periods including militancy, abduction, vandalization of oil equipment etc. This trend has eaten into the fabric of the region as a result and largely accounts for repeated electoral violence as the youths are largely unemployed (UNEP, 2011). On this basis, the concept of marketization of election through the buying of votes for elections become a common practice among the political elites who pay money to secures more votes (Ibeanu, 2007). Within this state of affairs re-moralizing the political space becomes a big problem as the flawed system seems to hold sway against constitutional provisions of the electoral act. In this particular circumstance unemployed youths could hold on to the material inducements from the political class for survival irrespective of As Olurode and Haamanga (2013) argued that election is a security affair, getting it right boils down to economic development. Similar orientation can be found in the debates by Ibeanu and Jega (2007) who contend that election insecurity creates persistent systemic problems in the polity. It is clear that election has expanded to engulf the economic, rather than the entirely political conception of the practice. The logic of this strand stems from the logic of the fact that through political processes i.e. the election of the holders of political and economic powers (government) emerges to take key decisions encompassing economic and political. Thus the nexus between election, security and development is significant for a possible sustainable and equitable development of Nigeria. This nexus is clear with the evidence of poor governance and refusal of the elites to make the votes of the electorates count, hence perverse rise in economic hardship, youth unemployment and poverty (Egwu, 2014). This is a serious development issue, with adequate electoral security, the choice of the people prevails and in turn political accountability and transparency could be actualized. Outside this, the supposed development might be negatively impacted. This contention that electoral security facilitates economic development has a meaningful and relevant interface with this research , and is an essential a part of a pro people and pro-development version of popular claims about the constitutive centrality of election and development nexus . The key argument here is that security is key to a hitch free election and could systematically create to a large extent the desired fair playing ground for political office seekers. Jega (2006) contends that election creates an avenue for competitive quest for elective offices. Boucher (2008) re-echoes that the effect of this is that many of these theorists work within what he calls the charmed circle of ideology, which he uses to refer to post-Marxism's tendency to reduce politics and economics to ideological struggles. Thus, from this perspective and based on the expansive definition of election it is important to understand the need for security in the electoral process. These problems as the available literature suggest, have been identified in the spate of killings in elections in Nigeria including similar issues such as hooliganism and thuggery that currently characterizes elections in Nigeria.
For instance, Ibeanu and Jega (2007) argue that electoral crisis has been to a large extent the resultant effect of poor electoral system This suggests that despite a firm rhetorical emphasis on election as central to democracy, there is a serious challenge linking the ongoing practice with effective security mechanism. The quest for acquisition of political power thus overrides electoral transparency with issues of bribery and electoral fraud as a common place since nascent democracy in Nigeria. Ibeanu (2007) re-emphasizes the originally theoretical basis of the term machine politics to provide clearer understanding of what he termed primitive accumulation of votes. He builds on Smith and Zurcher (1944,p.190) which argued that a political machine is an organization controlled by a boss or a small coterie of leaders which subjects party organization and public officials to its will and operates efficiently and ruthlessly in exploring governmental activities of nearly every sort for the private gain of its members. Mohammed (2007) attempts to transcend his rendition of election in which votes must count. However, adequate apparatus to make votes count have been ineffectual resulting in irregularities. It is hard in my modest opinion to see how election could be free and fair without effective security apparatus. Security is integral to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections. The term election security seems not to have been satisfactorily put in proper scholarly perspective particularly in the developing societies. The security challenges have made politics generally a game for hoodlums (Joseph, 1992). Uganden (2010, p.90), argues that politics in Nigeria is particularly plagued with historically rooted ills that five decades of sovereign statehood have failed to eradicate. This points out the need for conceptual exploration of the concept of electoral security. The concept of electoral security provides a controversial discourse as studies in electoral security and party politics largely depend on a less clear conceptualization of the term (Olurode, 2013). Security is of great concern to all human beings (Klare, 1996). The realist school conceive security in military terms suggesting various forms of military response to security threats. With the end of the Cold War, the military focus of security had a shift from a number of perspectives. There has been a number of perspectives on security particularly at the individual level. This has seen the emergence of election security debate, jostling for disciplinary space in political science, but most closely associated with the understanding of the dynamics and nature of the conduct of elections. Electoral security is notable for its rearticulating of some of the conventional questions of political participation pertaining to elections, particularly the relationship of the electoral body such as INEC in the particular case of Nigeria with the electorates and the security forces, in a distinct manner that puts the domain of security frontal in the electoral process. In particular, election security has challenged the existence of real or latent threats to free, fair and credible elections, and has argued instead for the guarantee of the security of all stakeholders during elections (Olurode, 2013;Bawa, 2013). This orientation has given rise to a number of conceptual debates, including the changing forms of election such as electoral violence (Bawa, 2013), codification of election and the buying of votes, carting of ballot boxes, shooting and arson during elections. These insecurity triggers arising from the conduct of elections have vitiated the understanding of election as organized and systematic mode of choosing political office holders under a party label. This creates analytical tension and contradictions which have been problematic in discourses on elections. The treatment of election in Nigeria as a -do or die affair has resulted in increasing need to conceptualize it from the perspective of security. This is particularly important as security threats have created distortions in the conduct of elections in Nigeria (Ogundiya, 2000). Debates on the emergent field of electoral security attempts to remedy deficiencies associated with the conduct of elections particularly on three fronts namely the protection of electoral materials, electoral officers and the electorates ( Olurode, 2013;Bawa, 2013) , as electoral security scholarship succeeds in providing novel scholarly arena to understand the dynamics of election and security, it fails to fully resolve the difficulties associated with the conceptual challenges of the term . This has resulted in attempts to examine studies linking election to security and to possibly create conceptual edge on the term electoral security and reaffirm the importance of such concepts in the electoral system of Nigeria. Thus, electoral security form part of a general vocabulary that people could deploy to understand the processes, practices and social relations which shape the electoral system. Yet, it has also been contentious as many political, economic and social factors that affect elections in security contexts have not been adequately examined. This opens this study to a number of future researches as well as important conceptual debates which have often affected the common basis of conceptual consensus on the term. Despite this, there is a widespread assumption that electoral security is integral to the success of elections. Igini (2013) provided some theoretical conception of elections and argued that election security is integral to the integrity of the overall conduct of elections including the electorates electoral personnel election materials contestants election monitors; observers and other stakeholders who participate in the electoral process On his part, Alapiki (2000) argued that the abuse of incumbency power has been a major trigger of electoral insecurity. According to Olurode and Haamanga (2013) electoral security constitute an integral element of the success of elections and represent an advance on electoral reform agenda in which the safety of the electorates are guaranteed before; during and after elections. This has given rise to the need for a critical re-engagement with electoral system in Nigeria beyond voting and being voted for in elections.
Equally, while greater attention in the literature is paid to election, the impact of electoral processes and outcome on development is poorly examined from my research trajectories, I do not believe that economic development could be actualized without credible elections. That is, the restructuring of modes of carting of ballot boxes, use of fireworks to scare voters, shooting at both perceived opponents and the electorates, buying of votes, deploying of youths and at times the police in favour of a particular political office seeker etc. These problems which have been a re-occurring challenge since the return to democracy have not been adequately discussed in the literature on elections in Nigeria. This becomes particularly important since democracy deepening has been often termed a missing agenda in Africa's democracy (Ake, 2001).   After presenting the above chats on number of fatalities from electoral violence per state and per zone, it is important key states with high incidences of electoral violence are analyzed and discussed. The states discussed are Kaduna State (North West), Oyo (South West), Plateau state (North Central), Rivers state (South-South), Bauchi State (North-East) and Imo state (South-East).        CONCLUSION The act of conducting credible elections has been a major problem affecting Nigerian democracy. Elections are usually fraught with a lot if irregularities that raise questions about their credibility (Agbu, 2016:1-8). The lack of credible elections in most part has had serious and fundamental impact on democratic consolidation despite the commonality and regularity as it were in the conduct of elections in the country's current democratic dispensation that began in 1999.

DATA ANALYSIS
At the centre of the whole democratic deficit is the Election Management Body (EMB), namely the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which over the years but for the 2011 and 2015 general elections is generally weakened by the challenges bedeviling the electoral process. Indeed, the slight improvement recorded in the last elections resulting in political power alternation in the country is fundamentally due to the electoral reform embarked upon by the political class to address the identified institutional deficits and/or defects of the electoral process particularly in the EMB.
The hope of democratic consolidation depends in large part to the consolidation of the reform itself. This requires that all and sundry including the EMB and the political actors must take the electoral reform more seriously if Nigeria's democracy is not to be seen as mere "windowdressing or what some describe as elections without democracy (Diamond, 2002;Schedler, 2002).

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on facts seen from secondary data and literature review. The following recommendations were made: 1. Government should provide enough funds for INEC so they will be able to carry out elections properly without having to need help from other individuals. 2. Community policing should be strengthened in communities in Nigeria so the culprits of electoral violence can be known and dealt with on time. 3. Government should ensure many soldiers, police officers and other security agencies are available during elections. 4. Further research should be embarked upon to understand insecurities during elections in Nigeria as this study is by no means exhaustive of the subject matter.