Influence of ethnicity and religion in Nigerian elections and the imperative of media intervention
Influence of ethnicity and religion in Nigerian elections and the imperative of media intervention

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the influence of ethnicity and religion on the voting patterns of the Nigerian electorate. The paper employed the content analysis approach being the research method to evaluate the 2015 presidential election, and found that ethnicity played a major role in the election. Since democracy is a game of numbers, it might be relatively difficult ever having a Nigerian President of an Igbo origin without the support of the other ethnic nationalities in the country. This is because the Igbo Community falls within the category of the minority regions in terms of population. So, to create the platform that would enable the members of both the major and the minority ethnic groups to serve as the president of Nigeria, the paper recommends among other things that the office of the Nigerian president be rotated among the six geo political zones as earlier recommended by Chief Anthony Enaharo, architect of the six-geo-political zones in the Nigerian politics. In addition, the paper urges the media to support the formation of an inclusive government, cutting across tribes and religion in the country to reduce the negative impact of ethnicity and religion in the country.

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