ELITE FACTOR AND ELECTORAL CHOICE OF CANDIDATES IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF PARTY PRIMARIES FOR THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTION

Author: Lawal Adamu Abubakar, Ph.D., FSI

ABSTRACT

Election in modern liberal democracy remains an important element that guarantees citizens’ right to political participation either as aspirants/candidates or as electorates. The emergence of candidates of political parties preparatory to the general election is a function of the party primary. It is at this stage of the electoral competition that unpopular candidates resort to manipulation of the processes in order to clinch the ticket. The paper, therefore, examines the factor of the elite in the conduct of primaries for the 2023 elections in Nigeria. The paper relied on secondary and primary sources and collected data from related secondary documents such as; articles in journals, newspapers, unpublished papers, INEC official documents, etc. The primary source includes raw data in its original form through interview methods/verbal discussions with relevant stakeholders in the field on one-to-one interviews and small group discussions. Findings in the paper revealed among others that, the Political elites whose children aspired to inherit them in the primaries for the 2023 election cut across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria with many of them “selected” as party candidates at various levels. The paper recommended among others strict enforcement of sanctions on violators as provided in the electoral act 2022.

Keywords: Delegates, Electoral choice, Elite, Liberal democracy, Party primaries

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