The violent disruption of the bye-election in Ekiti East State Constituency 1 on Saturday, March 20, leading to the death of three voters and causing injury to election staff, raises concerns for Nigeria’s elections. The high level of violence recorded in governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States in 2019, threw up questions about a deteriorating electoral environment and the credibility of the electoral process, especially following the security challenges witnessed in the 2019 general elections. However, more recent off-cycle elections, including governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States in which there were very few reports of electoral violence gave indications of general improvement in Nigeria’s elections, a trend observers hoped would be sustained.
The incident in the Ekiti East bye-election against the backdrop of widespread insecurity in the country, presents a major challenge to the 2023 general elections, which needs to be decisively addressed by the government at all levels, security agents, political actors and all relevant stakeholders. With a worsening trend of voter apathy from one election cycle to the next, an electoral environment where voters do not feel safe enough to come out and cast their votes, is the last thing the country needs.