Electoral Reforms and Democratic Stability in Nigeria

Abstract

Democracy has been embraced across the globe as an essential tool of development. There is a palpable desire for the entrenchment of democratic norms in Nigeria. The nation’s democracy witnessed a lot of distortions by the military anti-democratic orientation, perception and practice. The first two republics (1960-1966 and 1979-1983) were truncated by military bullets. What could have been the third republic was also sabotaged by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential
election by the military junta. Most stakeholders of the democratic process seems cultured to the militarization of democracy in Nigeria. Election which is the nucleus of the democratic process is now seen as a “do or die” affair. Virtually all the political parties are caught in the web of electoral malpractice. Rigging, thuggery, snatching of electoral materials, abduction, assassination, selection instead of election, absence of internal party democracy, lack of party discipline, money politics, lack of confidence in the electoral body as an independent, neutral arbiter are some of the problems plaguing the electoral process in Nigeria. The quest to correct such anomalies through electoral reforms which will guarantee democratic stability in Nigeria is the motivation for this study.