DIMENSIONS OF ELECTORAL REFORMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

No doubt, successive general elections in Nigeria fall far below internationally acclaimed minimum standard for a free and fair election. Whereas, democracy which is the desire of Nigerians will survive only if its basic and elementary rules – free and fair election for citizens – in terms of one-man-one-vote for the citizenry to exercise their choice are observed – unfortunately, “a number of  elections did not meet even the barest minimum requirement in a failed state”. It is against this background that this paper now attempts a prognosis of the dimensions of electoral reforms and the likely challenges so that the beleaguered nascent democracy can resist the possibility of reversal to autocracy. To achieve this aim, the paper has been organized into a number of sections. With an introductory overview, which dwells on the imperatives of a free and fair election in Nigeria, the paper proceeds to brief theoretical postulations that bother on the nexus between democracy and credible elections. The paper however proceeds to the dimensions of restructuring the electoral institutions to be able to guarantee free and fair credible elections. Few of the areas of concentration for restructuring includes: a review of the electoral acts, rejig of INEC, political parties and internal democracy, the debilitating influence of money in politics most especially vote-buying, strengthening the weak state and the role of the judiciary in credible elections amongst others. The paper however infers that even if all restructuring dimensions are undertaken, the state must be strengthened from its present extremely weak status cum adoption of IT while Nigerians need to be given re-orientation so that they can imbibe a congruent political culture vis-à-vis democracy.