Voter Suppression and Flashpoints of Violence in the Forthcoming 2023 General Elections in Nigeria

Voter suppression is a quiet but potent threat increasingly gaining momentum in Nigeria, especially as the 2023 general elections approach. With a combination of subtle and rough methods, voter-suppressive behaviours gradually erode progress under the elective civil rule. Operational challenges of the election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially the lack of adequate manpower and machines to register the teeming number of persons who want to enlist as voters, are one of the conditions that suppress the intention to register and vote. Secondly, there is a new trend in which violence is either threatened or unleashed on voter registration centres to drive away intending registrants, as recently reported in parts of Lagos State and Abuja. Thirdly, massive quantities of manufactured Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) have been discovered where they were deliberately buried away or discarded with an obvious intention to prevent them from being used for voting.

In this edition of Nextier Policy Weekly, we look at how these developments suppress voters and create areas of security concern with a view to drawing policy attention to them and providing options for meaningfully preventing them from undermining the forthcoming presidential election.

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