The Spirituality Approach to Electoral Politics in Africa: Evidence from the Presidential Elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Abstract

Extant literature is replete with studies on electoral process in Africa and, in particular, Nigeria. However, there is dearth of scholarly interest in interrogating the import of spiritualization of politics in Africa’s body politic. Regardless of the scant attention given to this phenomenon in research, it is increasingly becoming a recurring decimal in the electoral cycles of some Africa countries. Using the Nigerian presidential elections as the unit of analysis for this article, we highlight the need for attention to be reasonably focused on the potentials inherent in spiritualization of politics. The article specifically looks at how divine predictions and prophecies about winners or losers by some religious leaders or acclaimed spiritualists at every round of election in Nigeria are fast becoming integral aspects of Nigerian politics. These spiritual modes to politics, the article argues, may assume threatening dimensions because of their capability to undermine state institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies during election periods. Therefore, this article recommends that fledgling democracies such as Nigeria’s need to put machinery in place to protect their electoral systems and related institutions from threats inherent in unguarded electoral predictions by religious leaders and spiritualists.