A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ELECTION LAWS IN NIGERIA

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ELECTION LAWS IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT

The electoral process is a total process that includes registration of voters, identifying the political parties to be voted for, voting, counting of votes, and declaration of election results. This process is the foundation of civil societies. A strong civil society is vital and needed to serve as the bedrock of a stable democracy. It represents the reservoir of resources - political, economic, cultural, and moral -- to complement and, when necessary, to check the power of the state. A dynamic and diverse civil society directly stimulates social and political participation, increasing the involvement and commitment of citizens and promoting an appreciation of the obligations, as well as the rights, of citizenship. By providing many potential avenues for political, economic and social expression, a society with a rich associational life gives people a stronger stake in the social order. This in turn, creates a climate within which mutual respect, tolerance, negotiation, and compromise actually make sense, and flourish. Nigeria claims to be democratic and seeks to prove that under the banner of representation and multi-party political systems. Elections are used as a means by which representatives and policies are decided. The choice between political parties or individual candidates is made through elections. It should be noted that the public function implies elections. This electoral process is the peaceful transfer of power and legitimate exercise of authority. It demands active, broad based citizen participation. It is the election that actually determines who shall wield power for a number of years as specified by the constitution. An electoral system may be defined as a process in which the mode of coming to power or the change of government is decided in a particular country at a given time. This paper is going to examine the development of several election laws that has been developed and the progression of the laws.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Elections have become the most acceptable process of changing leadership in any given political system in the present day. The Black’s law dictionary defines election as the process of selecting a person to occupy a position or office, usually a public office. 1Another definition is the one which defines election as the act of selecting someone or something; the exercise of deliberate choice. 2Election is the cornerstone of democracy and it is essentially a contest for the votes of adult members of the society by aspirants to political office. It is worthy of note however that the concept of elections is quite recent in the history of man as it can be traced to the emergence of democratic government. Professor W. Phillips in his book, power and choice; an introduction to political science said: 'In the long swing of the history, elections with broad mass participation are rather new. Such elections originated with democratic government, which means that they came along at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. Today, elections are widespread around the world, even though a number of world’s states are not democracies'3 From the foregoing , it is clear that elections and democracy are intertwined ,it is therefore appropriate to touch on democracy which can be defined as a form of representative government based on the consent of the people. Jimmy carter, former president of United States said Democracy is like the experience of life itself-always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for being tested4 The principal medium for translating the people’s consent into government authority is the holding of free and fair elections. However, history has shown that it is usually difficult to hold free and fair elections, even the united states, which is the model for other democracies was faulted in the year 2000, when the elections that led to the victory of president bush was alleged to be marred by irregularities in the state of Florida. In Nwachukwu vs. Eneogwe; it was held that : Once an election is found, substantially, not to be free and electorate, either by violence or intimidation, has not been allowed freely to cast their votes, the election where such has occurred, ought to, and must be nullified and a fresh one conducted5 Nigeria has had its fair share of electoral disputes, the presidential and governorship elections of 1999, 2003 and 2007 were reported to be marred by irregularities in vote tabulation and reporting of results by both foreign and local observers. Electoral law is that branch of law that seeks to regulate the electoral system which ranges from voters’ registration, political parties registration to collation of results. According to Wikipedia, electoral law is a branch of constitutional law which regulates the electoral process. In this study, the focus will be on Nigeria’s electoral law which has grown a lot from its pre independence period. Nigeria is on the eve of another election which if successful will mark its third uninterrupted transition of power since the last military intervention in 1999. Premised on this, the importance of electoral law in Nigeria cannot be over emphasised. The Nigerian electoral law can be traced back to 1922, with the introduction of the ‘elective principle’ by the then governor-general , Sir Hugh Clifford who in the constitution of 1922 which was named after him made provisions for the election of four representatives to represent the Lagos and Calabar region, however, only male adults were allowed to vote. This ‘elective principle’ is very crucial in the discussion of Nigerian electoral law because it gave room for the formation of political parties which although not like the contemporary political parties, served its purpose back then.6 The 1946 constitution by Sir Arthur Richard did not alter the ‘elective principle’ of 1922, this position changed in 1951 when Sir Macpherson became the governor-general, there were more electoral seats and the people were better represented in the colonial government. The Nigerian electoral law and system has since evolved as both legal and institutional framework are put in place to regulate the system and targeted towards ensuring free and fair elections.

Department: Law
Format: Microsoft Word

Chapters: 1 - 5, Preliminary Pages, Abstract, Bibliography.
Delivery: Email

No. of Pages: 96

Price: 3000 NGN

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