Abstract
This study examined whether security agencies in Nigeria’s presidential elections have acted professionally or partisanly. Through qualitative analysis of elections from their colonial origins to the Fourth Republic, it demonstrated a consistent pattern of partisan deployment favouring incumbents. Security forces have systematically facilitated electoral fraud through ballot box theft, voter intimidation, selective law enforcement, and the provision of false evidence for result manipulation. Drawing on Schedler’s electoral authoritarianism framework, the analysis revealed how security agencies function as instruments of “garrison democracy,” staging elections to legitimize predetermined outcomes rather than protecting democratic processes. This partisanship generates significant consequences, including increased public distrust, heightened post election violence, and compromised judicial processes, ultimately undermining “institutionalized uncertainty,” a foundational principle of democracy. The study concluded that security sector reform, including independent oversight and the reduction of executive influence, is essential for Nigeria’s democratic consolidation. Without critical structural change, elections will remain authoritarian performances rather than genuine expressions of democratic choice.
Keywords: Professionalism, Partisanship, Institutionalized Uncertainty, Democratic Consolidation, Militarized Elections, Electoral Authoritarianism, Neutrality
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21213961
Authors
Esin Okon Eminue, Ph.D
Department of History and
International Studies
Faculty of Arts
University of Uyo, Uyo
Tel: +234 8061209080
ORCID ID: 0009-0002-5148-8985
Essien Ini Ememobong
Department of History and
International Studies
Faculty of Arts
University of Uyo, Uyo
Email: iniemem2001@yahoo.com
Tel: +234 7039484281
Copyright
Copyright © [2026] The Author(s). Published by the Journal of People and Worldviews (JPW). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited.