Democracy, Party Politics and Good Governance: The Role of Electoral Management Bodies in Nigeria

Abstract

Democracy has been accepted globally as the best form of government but the processes in Nigeria in recent time comes as a torn between opportunity and crisis because the crave for votes by political parties is characterized with high stakes for governance, security, economy, regional and religious bigotry. Though, the electoral umpire in Nigeria has been playing a significant role in democratic consolidation, good governance and vehicle for promoting sound and ethical democratic culture however, this is not without challenges. This research titled: Democracy, party, politics and good governance: The role of electoral management bodies in Nigeria, shall explore the conceptual view, realities and impact of democratic culture to the socio-economic development of Nigeria and the salient role of electoral umpire in Nigeria. The research shall explore relevant theoretical and empirical literature through the secondary sources. The paper concludes that electoral umpire has played a significant role in consolidating Nigerian democracy therefore recommends that democratic institution should be strengthened through adequate funding and independent of electoral umpire in Nigeria to promote democracy and good governance.