The Saliency of Ethno-Regional Mobilisation and the Post Electoral Violence of 2011 Presidential Election

The nature, magnitude, and manifestations of electoral violence, the complex dynamics and incentives driving it in Nigeria are subject of extensive analysis in the academic literature. This study interrogates the underlying factor (s) responsible for the post election violence of the 2011 presidential elections. The 2011 presidential election in a comparative sense was generally accepted as free and fair by domestic and international observers than the 2003 and 2007 elections.

The bases for the focus of the study on the post election violence of the 2011 presidential elections are twofold. First, despite the general consensus among analysts and observers that the 2011 presidential elections marked a watershed in the country’s path towards democratic consolidation, the violence that followed the announcement of the presidential results is generally considered the bloodiest in the history of post electoral violence in Nigeria.

Secondly, while many studies have been conducted on the nature and causes of electoral violence in previous post electoral violence in Nigeria, only limited studies have attempted a systematic analysis of the post election violence of the 2011 presidential elections and the incentives for the unrests

This study Identifies problems that have resulted to electoral violence which are; the operating federal system is considered to be structurally defective, economically unviable and politically unsupportive of the aspirations of ethnic minorities. Secondly, the Nigerian constitution readily brings to the fore issues of its legitimacy, participatory nature, capacity to enhance compliance and obedience, the military and political elite subversion of the constitution and constitutionalism, and public trust in its representative character.

However, despite the aforementioned challenges, the recommendations are thus; that there is the need for a fundamental restructuring of the constitution. Conclusively, the adoption of the people driven federal constitution does not in any way represent a quick fix of all the nation’s socio-economic and political problems.

Key words: Electoral Violence, Elections, Democracy, Ethnicity.