Influence of ethnic identities on voting behaviour in 2019 National Assembly elections in Gombe State, Nigeria

Gombe state is a multi-ethnic society with diverse backgrounds, where distrust and animosity among the ethnic identities run deep. Contrary to the liberal principles of universal adult suffrage, politicians have been manipulating ethnic identities to influence voting behaviour to feather their political nests since the creation of Gombe state in 1996. This has led to the deprivation of the voters of their full rights to freedom of choice and the undermining of democracy in the state. The literature review shows scanty study has been carried out in the area. Therefore, this paper examined the influence of ethnic identities on voting behaviour in the 2019 National Assembly elections in Gombe state. A qualitative design and a case study approach are adopted. Purposive sampling and snowballing were used for the selection of informants. Apart from the review of secondary materials, primary data collection was through online Zoom, WhatsApp, and phone calls interviews under various categories of informants. Rational Choice Theory is employed and thematic analysis was used for data interpretation. Findings revealed abject poverty, low level of political education and culture among the voters mainly made it easier for the politicians to manipulate ethnic identities to influence voting behaviour.

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