ABSTRACT Democratic principles and ideals are becoming entrenched across sub-Saharan Africa while voters' turnout, an important ingredient has been a steady decline in Nigeria. Although, the professionals are presumed to be the conscience of human societies, however, little attention is paid to their voting behaviour. This study, therefore, examines the voting behaviour of professionals in south western, Nigeria. The theory of Social Action was adopted in this study. Questionnaire was administered to 5 selected Professional groups 4915 (Accounting: 997; Engineering: 998; Medical: 937, Law: 992; Academics: 991) active members, 35 in-depth interviews and direct observation was utilised on the 2011 general elections. Quantitative and qualitative data were descriptive and content analysed respectively. Majority (90.7%) respondents were very passive voters and 75.8 % of the respondents agreed electoral and security officials were not impartial. The polling centers were too far from voters' houses. The negative behaviour of political thugs and stakeholders had negative consequences on their voting behaviour. There was a high level of voting apathy among the professionals and there is urgent need for enlightenment targeting this group to increase their voting participation.

Keywords: Democracy, Election, Voting Behaviour, Professionals, Electoral Institutions