Election Security and Voter Participation in Nigeria: Examining Intimidation and Harassment in the 2023 General Elections

The 2023 elections in Nigeria remain one of the most contested since the return of democracy in 1999. Filled with assurances and reawakening the need for everyone’s participation, especially the youth, voters believed that the permanent voter’s card (PVC) and the Bimodal Voters Accreditation Systems (BVAS) guaranteed their votes would count. However, the election was marred by insecurity, intimidation, and harassment of voters, resulting in the distrust of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), widening of the ethnic/tribal, religious faultiness and exposure of voters, and electoral materials to insecurity. This study, therefore, explores election insecurity, voter intimidation/harassment, and participation in the 2023 presidential and Governorship elections. Data for this study was collected using the documentary method and Structural Functionalism theory applied as the theoretical framework of analysis. This paper identifies various incidents of voter intimidation/harassment, insecurity, and voters’ participation in the elections. This paper concludes that voters, electoral materials, and results were not adequately protected; voters were harassed and intimidated in many states during and after the election. It, therefore, recommends the reconstruction of the national security apparatus for the protection of voters, electoral materials, and results during elections in Nigeria.