INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Nigeria is a country of overlapping regional, religious, and ethnic divisions. Rifts between the North and the South of the country, ethnic groups, and Islam and Christianity often coincide and have sometimes resulted in sectarian violence. This has been the case particularly in its geographical center and in the Niger Delta region. In the Middle Belt, as the former is called, bouts of retributive bloodshed between Christian farmers and Muslim pastoralists erupt with some frequency.
In all, credible observers ascribe over twelve thousand deaths since 1999 to ethnic, religious, and regional conflict in Nigeria. Since the end of military rule eleven years ago, Nigeria’s elites have largely cordoned off national presidential elections from sectarian divisions by predetermining presidential and vice presidential victors. Their People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nominates one southern Christian and one northern Muslim for the presidency and vice presidency and rigs these candidates into office. Every eight years the party rotates the office for which it nominates Christian and Muslim candidates(Adekanye, 2018).
