Examining the Ethics of Voting and the challenge of Identity Politics in Nigeria

A former Nigerian civilian president in the fourth republic General Olusegun Obasanjo in a television broadcast alleged widespread compromise and lack of integrity in the country’s voting pattern while drawing experience and thought from the just concluded local council and state governorship elections in two states of the federation. His concern went viral and serves as a reminder of the paradoxical meaning of voting during an election, and why the voting process should be transparent and devoid of unethical practices. Sadly, since Nigerians returned to civil rule in 1999 till date, elections have been mired by all kinds of irregularities such as vote selling and buying, ballot box snatching, lethal violence and widespread ethno-religious chauvinism among others. Therefore, this study aims to examine the ethics of voting and the challenges of identity politics in Nigeria and how this phenomenon has hampered the production of good governance and credible representation which is the banner of democratic rule and principles. Therefore, the study intends to employ quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to analyse data through the instrumentality of questionnaires and interviews. This survey research design will focus on a random sample size of 5000 people, including males and females who are the voting population in Nigeria and, therefore, can objectively share their thoughts and experiences on the ethics of voting and the consequential challenges of identity politics in Nigeria. Preliminary findings in the study reveal that voting is an ethical, civic duty of every citizen in a democracy to either make government better or worse. It further revealed that identity politics is the major barrier hindering good governance and the transformation of democratic values in the Nigerian experience. The study argued that lack of integrity and the struggle for identity politics is responsible for the embers of distrust between citizens and electorates leading to high voter apathy and poor citizen participation during Nigerian elections.