Democracy in Nigeria and the Problems of the 2015 General Elections

Abstract

The paper examined democracy and the problems of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. According to independent observers, these elections were full of electoral malpractices and though there were observed improvements during the 2015 election, it was not without its fair share of pitfalls as processes surrounding it lent credence to suspicions that it was technically manipulated through the instrument of the card reader and other instruments of fraud. The objectives of this
paper are therefore to validate the assumption that 2015 general elections in Nigeria were not completely free, fair and credible, and to identify the problems that characterized the 2015 elections. Democratic participatory theory was adopted as the theoretical framework with reliance on the secondary method through which data were sourced. Historical and explanatory models were used in its analysis. The paper found out that Nigeria is yet to overcome all the challenges of participatory democracy, to entrench free, fair and credible elections considering the prevailing
political culture characterized by the winner takes all syndrome, the desperation of political parties and candidates to take over power by all means, and lack of structural autonomy on the part of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct and management of elections in Nigeria. The paper thus, recommended among others, that the present administration of President,
Muhammadu Buhari should implement the recommendations of 2014 Constitutional Conference Reports before the 2019 general elections.