CHAPTER 1----INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Political security is concerned with the protection of the people from political domination. It seeks to provide for a condition or society in which the peoples’ rights are respected such as the right to freely exercise ones vote without threat, suppression or force. Consequently, inorder to enforce political security, arrest of agents of political insecurity can be made. Political security is centered on giving protection to human rights and catering for the well-being of all people. It also seeks to protect people from state domination so as to provide for freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the exercise of freedom of voting. Political security seeks to abolish political detention, imprisonment, systematic ill treatment, and disappearance. (Human Development Report, 1994). Political security is concerned with the protection of human rights abuse in non-democratic governments.
The subject of security is the absence of threats, fear or attack. Political security is the stability of state policies and ideologies which promotes the principles of democracies According to Möller, Björn (2000), political security is the focused on the protection of people from political oppression. It is concerned with whether people live in a society that honors their basic human rights. Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election fraud, election manipulation or vote rigging, is the process of interfering in the electoral process illegally with the intention of adding votes in favor of a particular candidate, reducing the votes of the rival candidates, or both. Rigging of an election involves the manipulation of the voting process or the counting of ballots so as to produce a false result which distort the outcome of the election, and it's a systematic effort to do that. It's trying to get a different count at the end of the election from what the voters actually wanted. The study seeks to appraise political security and electoral rigging in Nigeria; A study of 2015 General Election.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The state of the body politics in Nigeria is far drifting away from the principles of democracy. This due to the fact that political party leaders and those in power do no longer recognize the will of the people. They dominate the people and give no chance for the people to exercise their free will in the electoral process. There have been cases where some people have been threatened and some attacked for not belonging to a particular party or not in support of a particular candidate. The situation where the political will of the people are suppressed is not in line with the principle of democracy. Electoral frauds which among other things include electoral rigging is the order of the day. Politician now interfere with the electoral process so as to force the people to vote against their will. And sometimes falsify votes in favor of a particular candidate. Political security provides the solution to the suppression of the will of the people and election rigging. Political security is concerned with the protection of the people from political domination. It seeks to provide for a condition or society in which the people’s rights are respected such as the right to freely exercise ones vote without threat, suppression or force. Consequently, in order to enforce political security, arrest of agents of political insecurity can be made. Political security is centered on giving protection to human rights and catering for the well-being of all people. It also seeks to protect people from state domination so as to provide for freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the exercise of freedom of voting. The problem confronting the study is to appraise political security and electoral rigging in Nigeria; A study of 2015 General Election.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main study objective is to appraise political security and electoral rigging in Nigeria; A study of 2015 General Election.
While the specific objectives of the study include;
- To appraise the causes of political insecurity in Nigeria.
- To determine the effect of political insecurity on election rigging in Nigeria in 2015 general elections.
- To determine the level of election rigging in Nigeria.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- What are the causes of political insecurity in Nigeria?
- What are the effects of political insecurity on election rigging in Nigeria in 2015 general elections?
- What is the level of election rigging in Nigeria?
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Ho1: There is no significant effect of political insecurity on electoral rigging in Nigeria.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study seeks to unravel the problems associated with election rigging and political security with the view of maintaining a society.
It shall also be useful to government policy makers.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study focuses on the appraisal of effect of political security on electoral rigging in Nigeria 2015 General Election.
1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study was confronted with logistics constraints.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
ELECTORAL VIOLENCE DEFINED
The act of conflict, physical assault, destruction, intimidation which seek to disrupt and influence the electoral process.
INTIMIDATION DEFINED
The act of exacting pressure on the electorate so that they vote in a particular direction.
ELECTION DEFINED
An election is a periodic event that is prepared in which an individual is elected or voted for a given office (Kapur, 2009:142). The periodic election is an accepted norm and standard of global practice and method of that determines who gets power or control policy making. The election has been the normal practice in which modern representative democracy operates (Almond & Verba, 1963: 63)
EXTRADITION DEFINED
Extradition is a means of preserving political security
