“To vote and be Voted for” is one of the Fundamental Human Rights of Nigerians. The fast coming 2023 Elections have been the talk on most media stations, especially in the areas of the candidate to vote for. Various rallies have been held in different parts of the country by different political parties to mobilise people in joining their parties.
While this may be successful, some other people won’t be won over. This is because there are many reasons people choose a candidate to vote for. In this article, we’ll look at the different kinds of voters in Nigeria and by extension the World and what motivates them to vote for their chosen candidate
The Ethnic Voter
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Tribalism is one of the major issues plaguing Nigeria and you can be assured that it is also one of the key factors voters consider in voting for their choice candidate. This is even more common to the Northerners than any other tribe in the country. This is why Nigerians believe that if you want a party to win a presidential election, having the support of the Northerner will swing the election to their advantage.
The Religious Voter
Nigeria has two major religions and every election year, these tools have been employed by politicians to get people choose them. It is usually a case of Christatinity vs. Islam, such that the followers of these religions choose one who represents their area of worship. It was believed that one of the reasons former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan
The Party-member Voter
This kind of voter votes for any candidate that represents the political party they belong to. These voters are very loyal to their political parties irrespective of the quality of candidate. You can’t expect a PDP member to vote for a candidate from an opposition party.
The Stomach Infrastructure Voter
These kinds of voters sell their votes no thanks to poverty and ignorance. They are paid by a party to vote for a particular candidate and are given incentives such as money, food items, gifts, etc. The bad side about this is that it encourages corruption, giving politicians more chances to keep the people in poverty, knowing fully that a little gift in the form of money will get the people’s votes. This is one of the problems plaguing the Nigerian electoral processes.
The Business-centric Voter
Every business man wants a Government whose policies would favour his business, and help his business grow. Therefore it is only wise for such a person to toll the path of a candidate that will favour his ambition. Policies such as favourable tax laws, ease of doing business, access to finances, etc are some of the things to be considered.
The I-Don’t-Care Voter
One doesn’t need to cast a vote before voting – not voting in itself is voting. There are some people in this category who don’t care about what happens during the electoral processes. They have lost hope in the Nation, don’t trust the political candidates and feel their votes don’t count. These people don’t feel represented by the candidates the parties in power keep offering up. These people follow the news but think the electoral system is rigged or that voting doesn’t matter and fail to show up for that reason.
What these people don’t know is that their votes actually count and not voting in itself can change the dynamics of the electoral process in the wrong direction.
The Manifesto-influenced Voter
This kind of voter is concerned about the competence of the candidates and what they are bringing in terms of values as relayed in their manifestos. Such voters don’t care about the party or tribe, as long as the candidate has a good track record and offers a working strategy to make the economy better. This kind of voter looks at the personality of the candidates, their antecedents and declaration of the intentions, motives, or view regarding the position they are vying for.
Irrespective of why you vote for your candidate, you must remember that you will bear the consequences of your actions depending on the kind of leader the elected candidate is. Therefore, Vote Wisely !