NIU Journal of Social Sciences 23 NIU Journal of Social Sciences Copyright©2023 Nexus International University ISSN: 3007-1682; 9(4): 23-28 Negative Political Characters in Nigeria: Effects on Political Behaviours. SULAIMON ADIGUN MUSE Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Oto/Ijanikin (Noforija Campus, Epe), Lagos. Abstract. Character is key to the success or otherwise of individual, community and the society in general. Character becomes more significance for us as a social being. Social being needs to relate and interact with other people of diverse culture and tradition, religions, historical background, languages and so on. Hence, the character that is display or exhibited as social being in different circles goes a long way to determine the kind of responses and reactions such a person would receive in such circles. For a pluralistic and diverse society such as Nigeria, with over 250 ethnic groups and over 300 languages, there is dire need for proper, adequate and acceptable political character in the country. The failure of any of the ethnic groups to exhibit acceptable character in the country may serve as a threat to the political stability and social cohesion of the country. This becomes germane, as the negative characters may lead to negative voters’ behavior which may subsequently threaten the corporate existence of the country as more and more voter shows apathy towards voting in particular and political participation in general. The aim of this paper is to examine the negative political characters in Nigeria vis-à-vis its effects on voter’s behavior in Nigeria. Purely a qualitative paper, hence secondary data will be put to use. Some major negative political behavior identified by this paper are corruption, political violence and lack of accountability. The paper therefore suggested good governance and social inclusiveness as some of the solutions to these problems. Keywords: Negative characters, political behavior, Nigeria, corruption, apolitical 1. Introduction Public participation is on the agenda globally and in Africa, as well as in Nigeria. This is because public participation can help to enhance development and service delivery, make governance more effective and accountable and further deepen democracy. However, public participation in Nigeria and most African nations are mostly mere consultations rather than formal empowerment. One vital tool or vehicle for the sustenance of viable either old or emerging democracies is no doubt, popular public participation. This becomes even particularly pertinent in the case of Nigeria, which could be described as an emerging democracy or a nascent democracy. Against this backdrop, it is significant to look into the relevance of public participation in democratic governance in Nigeria. According to Joseph (2014), Nigeria as a nation-state with diverse ethnic groups, religions, historical background, languages and culture, needs to be united. There is a dire need for national unity, cohesion and integration; and, one of the basic means of fostering national integration is to have mass participation of the populace in who governs them or not, to foster a feeling of belonging that comes from being part of the decision-making process. According to Mazrui (2012), elections in Africa are usually very volatile, serious and sensitive issues, so serious that politicians would go to any length to sway the results in their favour to the detriment of the electorate. Vote rigging-unlawful interference with an electoral process is not restricted to Election Day. Electoral malpractices include pre-electoral and post- electoral fraud, besides polling day manipulation. This undemocratic attitude has often led to political violence. One of the means through which rigging of the election and political violence could be reduced is