WILBERFORCE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (WJSS)
ISSN: 2504 – 9232
Volume 10, No. 2, November 2025
Pages 138-149
DOI: 10.36108/wjss/5202.01.0280
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NIGERIA’S 2019 AND 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS: AREAS OF DIVERGENCE AND SIMILARITIES
Okoh Itebite Daniel
Department of political science and public administration Benson idahosa university, benin city. Edo state
Abstract
The political culture of Nigeria is a multifaceted construct influenced by a variety of elements, such as the nation’s rich and diverse ethnic composition, its colonial past, and the enduring impact of military governance. Consequently, electoral outcomes are determined by primordial sentiments, electoral fraud, electoral violence and other irregularities. However, the study carried out a comparative endeavour of the 2019 and 2023 general elections with the intent of pinpointing areas of divergence and similarities between them. The theory of political culture was the foundation of the analysis and employed a one-country comparative study using the Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD) approach to examine comparable characteristics of both elections. The findings revealed two main areas of divergence in the elections: competitiveness and contentiousness. The 2023 presidential election demonstrated greater competitiveness than its 2019 election, as evidenced by nearly 12 states won by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP), along with the popular votes they garnered. Furthermore, the presidential election of 2023 was the most contentious in the annals of the Fourth Republic, which resulted to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu, who did not meet the constitutional criteria as stipulated in Section 133 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. The analysis also identified similarities between the two elections, particularly their shared shortcomings in inclusiveness/gender disparity, credibility, electoral security, and legitimacy. The study proposed that political actors must embrace a democratic ethos by respecting the fundamental rights of individuals and property, fostering a culture of tolerance, respecting the Nigerian constitution and commitment to the rule of law. This serves as a veritable means to enhance Nigeria’s political culture and electioneering process.
Keywords: elections, credibility, legitimacy, inclusiveness, competitiveness