CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF MILITARISING ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
Okpanachi Odiji
Department of Political Science
College of Social and Management Sciences
Wesley University of Science and Technology, Ondo
Email: okpasspecial@yahoo.com,
Abstract: The Ekiti and Osun 2014 gubernatorial elections in Nigeria generated controversy despite being adjudged as free and fair. This is particularly due to the excessive deployment of armed security agents to man the polls. This paper attempts to unearth the raison d’êtres for this action as well as investigate its consequent implication(s). Taking insights from the principles of democracy and elections and drawing inferences from observed trends during the two polls mentioned above, the discourse observes that while the need to secure the ballot might have principally motivated the State into this new practice, its repercussions such as the propensity to demoralise the police, daunt voters and overstretch the military among others are capable of truncating democracy as well as undermining the entire polity.