INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AND THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA: A STUDY OF DAUDU CAMP IN BENUE STATE

This paper examined the level of political participation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the 2019 general elections in North Central Nigeria, with particular attention given to Daudu IDPs' Camp in Benue State. The paper was written against the backdrop that safeguarding the security of lives and property of Internally Displaced Persons is the responsibility of the government as they are also entitled to the same set of rights as non-displaced nationals including their right to political participation. The paper argued that the participation of the IDPs in the 2019 General elections was impeded by various factors which to a large extent disenfranchised them from voting. While relying on primary and secondary data as the method of data collection, the paper adopted state fragility approach as theoretical framework. The paper pointed out that the inability of the Nigerian government to safeguard her citizens has resulted to numerous IDPs which Daudu camp is not an exception and these have negatively affected their voting rights as citizens. The paper recommended among others that Nigerian government should provide security for her citizens to avoid been disenfranchised in subsequent elections.