ETHNICITY AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN NIGERIA: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN KATSINA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KATSINA STATE

Abstract

Voting behaviour has recently been expanded in meaning and is taken as a main broader area of study, subsumed within the broader designation of political participation. It involves human voting behaviour in the context of voting and any other related activities in electioneering administration. Thus, this study examines the impact of ethnicity on the voting behaviour of people in the Katsina Local Government Area of Katsina State during the 2023 presidential election. By adopting the Elite theory based on the views of Vilfredo Pareto and Gacestano Mosca as its theoretical framework, and utilizing qualitative and quantitative data generated via interview and questionnaire from the inhabitants of the study area, the study concluded that there is no significant relationship between ethnicity and voting behaviour of people in Katsina Local government Area of Katsina State during the 2023 presidential election. What influenced the behaviour of the voters in the study area was their religion. Therefore, the study recommends, among others, that Civic Education should be introduced into our primary and secondary curricula and made a compulsory subject for every student, irrespective of their department, which will help in making the younger generation have a clear knowledge of what is expected of them as good citizens.