ELECTORAL MALPRACTICES AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF THE 2007 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

📄 Project Abstract

Democracy has been described as government by persons freely chosen by the governed who hold them accountable and responsible for their actions while in government. A democratic system is one where rulers are held accountable to the ruled by means of a variety of political arrangements. Such arrangements include but are not necessarily conterminous with competitive multiparty elections held at regular intervals. Elections, it is important to note, are not only meant to ensure, confirm or re-affirm the legitimacy of the governors through a regular consent, but also provide a fertile ground for liberal democracy to thrive and be consolidated. In other words, while election does not automatically guarantee the consolidation and sustenance of the democratic process, yet it remains the central element in the process of democratization. Rather than being a political asset and a legitimate force elections in Nigeria have become a political liability, a source of instability and decay. The var...