The 2019 General Elections and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria
Keywords:
Election, Democracy
Abstract
This paper takes a critical look at the February/ March 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. Our analysis is predicated on the conceptual relationship between elections and Democratic Development. We evaluated the conduct of the 2019 General Elections and noted that the elections were below the acceptable standards of a democratic election, wherefore the wide protestations that continually trialed the results. The paper also noted that the elections have once again brought to the fore some of the challenges threatening the survival of democracy in Nigeria. Finally, the paper argued that these challenges need to be addressed if the nation’s effort at democratic development is expected to produce meaningful results, particularly now as the nation is getting ready for another round of General Election in 2023.
References
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46. Omotola, S (2009). Nigerian Parties and Political Ideology: Journal of alternative perspectives in the social sciences (2009) 1, (3), 612-634.
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48. Omoruyi, Omo (2003). “Creating Democrats from politicians in Nigeria: Lessons from 1999 to 2003” Vanguard, Dec. 14.
49. Onapajo, H. (2015a). ‘Nigeria’s 2015 general elections: The salience of electoral reforms’, The Round Table, 104 (5), 573–584.
50. Orji, N. (2014). Nigeria’s 2015 election in perspective’, Africa Spectrum, 49(3), pp. 127.
51. Ojwang, J.B (1990). Constitutionalism in commonwealth today” in Malaysia Law Review. 4. (4).
52. Osumah, Oarhe and Aghemelo, Austin T. (2010). Elections in Nigeria since the end of military rule. AFRICANA. (4), (2).
53. Pastor, R.A. (1999). The role of electoral administration in democratic transition: Implications for policy and research. Democratization, (6), (4) 1.
54. Pippa Norris (2012). Making democratic governance work. Cambridge University Press. Online publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139061902
55. Premium Times, March 11, 2019
56. Rodee, C.C, T.J, Anderson and C.O Christol (1957). Introduction to political Science: Mc Grawittill Book Co. Inc.
57. Raphael DD (1976). Problems of political philosophy. The Macmillan Press Ltd.
58. Sahara Reporters, April 04, 2019
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60. Sahara Reporters, Feb. 8 2019
61. Sahara Reporters, June 10,
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63. Schedler, A. (ed) (2006). Electoral authoritarianism: The dynamics of unfree competition. Colorado Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
64. Sule, B. (2019). Money politics and party primaries in Nigeria’s preparation towards the 2019 general election: The all progressives congress (APC) and peoples democratic party (PDP) in focus. Paper presented at the 7th Annual International Conference on Social Injustice. Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, Virginia State University
65. The Eagle online, 3rd September. 2018
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69. The nation, December 27, 2018,
70. Thisday, 10 April 2019
71. Wilmot, C. (2019). After elections, important question remain for Nigeria’s democracy. Report from international peace institute, published 19 March, 2019.
72. YIAGA AFRICA, Statement on the 2019 Presidential Election Results, Wednesday, February 27, 2019).
73. YIAGA AFRICA, OCTOBER 15, 2018, 3:07 pm.
2. Adejumobi, S. (2000). Election in African: A fading shadow of democracy? International political science review, 21, (1), 59-73.
3. Ajayi, A.K. (2012). Elections and democratic practice in Nigeria’s fourth republic: Challenges and prospects. Ife Journal of Politics, (7), 3, 1-7.
4. Ake,C. ( 1993) “Is Africa democratizing?” The Guardian annual lecture.
5. Alapiki, H.E. (2004). Politics and Governance in Nigeria. Amethyst and Colleagues publishers
6. Alemika, E. O. (2006) Nigerian security agencies and the 2003 elections: Lessons for the 2007 elections’, in Albert, I. O., et al. (eds), Conflict Tracking Dossier: Towards the 2007 Elections, Madol Press Ltd.
7. Almond, G. A. and Verba, S. (1963). The Civic Culture: political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton Unversity Press;
8. Alumona, I. M. (2006) “The 2003 General Election in Oyo State: A study in political behavior “unpublished M. Sc project, University of Ibadan.
9. Annan, K. Speech at the International conference, “towards a community of democracies,” Warsaw, 27 June 2000. UN Press Release SG/SM/7467.
10. Aniekwe, C.C. & Kushie, J. (2011). “Electoral violence situational analysis: Identifying hot-spots in the 2011 general elections in Nigeria”, national association for peaceful elections in Nigeria (NAPEN). http://www.ifes.org/Content/Projects/Applied-Research-Center/-Cutting/Election-Violence-Education-and- Resolution.aspx
11. Appadorai, A. (1968). The substance of politics. Oxford University Press.
12. Bamgbose, J. A. (2012). Electoral violence and Nigeria 2011 General Elections. International review of social science and Humanities 4, (1), 205-219.
13. Bone, H. & Ranney, A. (1971). Politics and voters. 3rd Ed. McGraw-Hill Inc
14. Birch, S. (2008) ‘Electoral institutions and popular confidence in electoral pro- cesses: A cross-national analysis’, Electoral Studies, 27(1), 305–320
15. Brown, M. (2003),’Democratic governance: toward a framework for sustainable peace’, global governance, 9, 141–46
16. Bryce, Lord James (1921); Modern democracies, Macmillan
17. Chazan, N. (1979). African voters at the polls: a re-examination of the role of elections in African polities’, Journal of commonwealth and comparative politics 17, 136–58
18. Dahl, A. R, (2000). A democratic paradox? Political science quarterly, 115 (1) 35-40.
19. Daudu .J. (2015). 2015 general elections and survival of democracy in Nigeria; Vanguard online. Retrieved 7/04/2015.
20. Diamond, L. (1999). Developing democracy toward consolidation, John Hopkins Press.
21. Dye, R. T. (2001). Politics in America, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle Rivers.
22. Ekeh, Peter (1975). “Colonialism and two public’s in Africa: A theoretical statement “comparative studies in society and History: An international Quarterly, vol. 17
23. Elkit,J and Palle,S. (1997). “What makes elections free and fair? “Journal of Democracy, 8, (3).
24. Elkit,J. and Reynolds, A. (2000) “ The impact of electoral administration on the legitimacy of emerging democracies: A New Research Agenda” The journal of Commonwealth and Comparative politics, 40, (2).
25. Essays, UK. (November 2018). Democracy and electoral Process in Nigeria politics essay. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/politics/democracy-and-electoral-process-in-nigeria-politics-essay.php?vref=1
26. Europeans union election observation mission Nigeria, 2019 Election Final Report (EU EOM, 2019)
27. Eya, Nduka (2003). Electoral process, electoral malpractices and electoral violence. Sages Publications Nigeria Ltd.
28. Factsheet on the electoral act amendment bill, 2018 as passed by the national assembly, February, 2018.
29. Fall, I.M.; Hounkpe, M.; Jinadu, L.A. & Kambale (eds) (2011). Election management bodies in West Africa: A comparative study of the contribution of electoral commissions to the strengthening of democracy. Johannesburg: Open Society Foundations.
30. Holden, Harry (1974). The nature of democracy. Nelson (Nig) Ltd.
31. Ibrahim, Jibrin (2006). Legislation and the electoral process: The third term agenda and the future of Nigeria democracy” Paper presented at centre for democracy and development (CCD) Nigeria Round-table.
32. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 2019 Presidential election declaration result, 23rd February2019
33. International crisis group Report (2018) December 21.
34. Jega, A and Ibeanu, O. (2007) Elections and the future democracy in Nigeria; Nigeria political science association, Nigeria.
35. Jinadu, Adele (1997)” Matters arising: African elections and the problem of electoral Administration” African journal of political science, 2, 2.
36. King, C. M. (1988) Localism and nation building. Spectrum Books.
37. Krishi, Musa Abdullahi; Ozibo, Ozibo (16 August 2018). "Why 2019 elections will be Nigeria's most expensive – INEC". Daily Trust. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
38. Ladi Hamalai, J. Shola Omotola and Samuel Egwu (2017) Nigeria’s 2015 general elections: continuity and change in electoral democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, published by Springer Nature
39. Lindberg, S. (2006). The surprising significance of African elections. Journal of Democracy, 6, (1), 139-151.
40. Mackenzie, W. J. and Robinson, K. E (1960). Five elections in Africa, Clarendon press.
41. Mozaffar, Shaheen and Schedular, Andras (2001). “The comparative study of electoral Governance: Introduction. “International political science Review, 23, (1).
42. Merriam, Charles (1939). The new democracy and the new despotism. Mc. Graw Hill Book Co.
43. Nwabueze, Ben (1993). Democratization, Ibadan spectrum Books Ltd.
44. Obakhedo, N.O. (2011). Curbing electoral violence in Nigeria: The imperative of political education: African research review international multidisciplinary journal, Ethiopia 5, (5).
45. Omotola, S (2010). Elections and democratic transition in Nigeria under the fourth Republic: African Affairs Advance Access published, 109 (435), 1-19.
46. Omotola, S (2009). Nigerian Parties and Political Ideology: Journal of alternative perspectives in the social sciences (2009) 1, (3), 612-634.
47. Omotola, J. S. (2013). Opposition and the challenges of multiparty democracy’, The Nigerian electoral journal, (Special issue on opposition politics in Nigeria), 5(2), 1–46.
48. Omoruyi, Omo (2003). “Creating Democrats from politicians in Nigeria: Lessons from 1999 to 2003” Vanguard, Dec. 14.
49. Onapajo, H. (2015a). ‘Nigeria’s 2015 general elections: The salience of electoral reforms’, The Round Table, 104 (5), 573–584.
50. Orji, N. (2014). Nigeria’s 2015 election in perspective’, Africa Spectrum, 49(3), pp. 127.
51. Ojwang, J.B (1990). Constitutionalism in commonwealth today” in Malaysia Law Review. 4. (4).
52. Osumah, Oarhe and Aghemelo, Austin T. (2010). Elections in Nigeria since the end of military rule. AFRICANA. (4), (2).
53. Pastor, R.A. (1999). The role of electoral administration in democratic transition: Implications for policy and research. Democratization, (6), (4) 1.
54. Pippa Norris (2012). Making democratic governance work. Cambridge University Press. Online publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139061902
55. Premium Times, March 11, 2019
56. Rodee, C.C, T.J, Anderson and C.O Christol (1957). Introduction to political Science: Mc Grawittill Book Co. Inc.
57. Raphael DD (1976). Problems of political philosophy. The Macmillan Press Ltd.
58. Sahara Reporters, April 04, 2019
59. Sahara Reporters, Feb 26, 2019
60. Sahara Reporters, Feb. 8 2019
61. Sahara Reporters, June 10,
62. Sahara Reporters, March 09, 2019, 8:20pm)
63. Schedler, A. (ed) (2006). Electoral authoritarianism: The dynamics of unfree competition. Colorado Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
64. Sule, B. (2019). Money politics and party primaries in Nigeria’s preparation towards the 2019 general election: The all progressives congress (APC) and peoples democratic party (PDP) in focus. Paper presented at the 7th Annual International Conference on Social Injustice. Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, Virginia State University
65. The Eagle online, 3rd September. 2018
66. The independent newspaper, December 2, 2018.
67. Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Preliminary Report, February 24, 2019
68. The punch, 11 December, 2018
69. The nation, December 27, 2018,
70. Thisday, 10 April 2019
71. Wilmot, C. (2019). After elections, important question remain for Nigeria’s democracy. Report from international peace institute, published 19 March, 2019.
72. YIAGA AFRICA, Statement on the 2019 Presidential Election Results, Wednesday, February 27, 2019).
73. YIAGA AFRICA, OCTOBER 15, 2018, 3:07 pm.
Published
2022-05-31
How to Cite
[1]
Anyalebechi, Shammah Mahakwe 2022. The 2019 General Elections and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria. International Journal on Integrated Education. 5, 5 (May 2022), 311-335. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17605/ijie.v5i5.3100.
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