*Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Science, University of Lagos
**Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University, Ojo
Online published on 14 November, 2013.
For over two decades, there has been a new wind of democratic change sweeping across Africa where multiparty political systems were being installed all over the continent to replace the fallen authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. Today, democracy sits on the horn of a dilemma in several parts of Africa including Nigeria. As at now, the inadequacies of democracy and its practice as a political ideology in Nigeria are being illustrated by the tactics and tantrums of Nigerian political leaders and faulty political process. Democratic consolidation in Nigeria is complicated by the apparent malfeasance of the country's electoral management body (the Independent National Electoral Commission - INEC) - yet; the problematic of electoral administration in the country is scarcely studied. Nigeria's fourth successive general elections since the return of democracy in 1999 were held last April. Expectedly, numerous bodies including civil society groups who played key roles in ensuring effective participation of the citizens in the electoral process and that its outcomes were credible and acceptable, have taken a backward look at the electoral experience, taking stock, with a view to creating a pathway for sustainable and wholesome democratic elections for the country. The paper examines the interface between credible elections and democratic consolidation, and how electoral fraud has become a threat to the survival, growth and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria. The article examines the primacy of electoral votes in an emerging democracy and its implications of democratic consolidation and good governance in Nigeria. Drawing from the 2011 elections, the paper submits that the electorate votes has begin to count for who emerges as a winner and accounts for the improvement in democratic governance in Nigeria. Factors responsible for this were identified by the paper and suggest as a panacea that, the state should de-invest in politics and also digitize its electoral process. With the April 2011 general elections, Nigeria may have taken steps towards reversing the degeneration of its previous elections, but the work is not finished. Despite some progress, early and intensive preparations for the 2015 elections need to start now. This paper provides some important recommendations that would serve as a panacea to the problems of election riggings and how those measures can help necessitate a democratic environment which is a precondition for free and fair elections.
