Voter Apathy in Nigerian Electoral Democracy: An Insidious Enigma to National Development

Abstract

This paper examines voter apathy in Nigerian electoral democracy as an insidious enigma to national development, with an emphasis on the 2023 General Elections. Elections in democracies play a vital role in ensuring the representation of popular will and securing the legitimacy of the political system. However, in situations where voter apathy is pronounced in the electoral processes of democratic countries, national development in such countries is nearly defeated. Voter apathy remains an insidious enigma for national development, and Nigeria provides an example of such a country. What is the way out? To answer this question, the paper made use of the decision-making theory by Richard Synder as its theoretical framework, adopted a qualitative research design, relied on secondary sources of data, and analyzed the collected data using the qualitative content data analysis method. The findings of the study revealed the factors causing voters’ apathy in Nigerian electoral democracy and their consequences on the country’s national development. Recommendations were made based on the findings.