Title: An empirical appraisal of the role of money in Nigerian politics

Authors: Mahmoud Alfa; John Marangos

Addresses: Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory Facility, United Kingdom's Department for International Development, 49 Agadez Street, Wuse 2, Abuja, Nigeria ' Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, Thessaloniki 54006, Greece; Swiss Management Center University, Transknowlogy Campus, Switzerland

Abstract: This study was conducted with the aim of ascertaining the impact of money on the quality of democracy and democratic consolidation in Nigeria. To achieve this major objective, the study employed the use of both primary and secondary data. The primary data consisted of questionnaires, while the secondary consisted of published materials. The study found that the use of money by politicians to influence the outcome of elections through vote buying among other malpractices in the country is firstly a consequence of the prevailing poverty and the expectation of the electorate for the aspiring politicians to dispense money. This development resulted in the lack of credibility of election results and in Nigeria's democracy. It is recommended that funding the electoral process must be reformed to make access and participation possible for a broader spectrum of society.

Keywords: democracy; poverty; elections; money; violence; legitimacy; electorate; politics; leadership; corruption; Nigeria; democratic consolidation; election outcomes; politicians; election influence; election credibility; vote buying; malpractice; bribery; political funding; electoral process; funding reform.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEPEE.2016.074946

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, 2016 Vol.9 No.1, pp.65 - 88

Received: 22 Aug 2014
Accepted: 14 Nov 2014
Published online: 25 Feb 2016 *

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