Political Prophecy and Election in Africa: An Evolving Trend in Nigeria's Electoral Process and its Danger to Democracy

Although research has shown how compromised electoral umpire, partisan use of security forces and ethno-religious sentiments can impinge on the integrity and credibility of the electoral process, the impact of election prophecy on the electoral process has not received sufficient scholarly attention. Therefore, this paper sets out to specifically interrogate the impact of the trend of prophecies as a motivation for and reinforcement of the negative perception of both Nigeria's electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the judiciary who are involved in adjudicating on electoral disputes. Using the 2019 General Elections (specifically the Presidential and Imo State elections), the paper demonstrated that the entrenchment of prophetic mode in Africa's electoral process, especially Nigeria, can potentially undermine the integrity of the process. The documentary method of data collection was used to source data while desk review served as the tool of analysis. The paper found that the entrenchment of prophetic mode in Nigeria's electoral process portends danger to its democracy. Finally, the paper recommends that some sanctions may be considered by the Christian Association of Nigeria against any religious leader habitually given to these kinds of pronouncements.