NULLIFICATION OF ELECTIONS AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Since 1960 when Nigeria became politically independent from the British colonial administration up to 2015 when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), conducted an epoch-making election, Nigerians have contended with the pains and consequences of mismanaged elections which are often violent. However, the 2019 elections took a very different dimension from the high expectations and improvements anticipated by the citizenry. This paper aims at an assessment of the trajectory in election administration by Nigerians from 1999 to 2019 during which period Nigerians' perception of election administration plummeted from hopefulness. The era of pessimism is represented by the 2003 and 2007 and to some extent, 2011 general elections when Nigerians lost hope in INEC and the entire electoral process. The era of optimism is hereby represented by the 2015 general elections when INEC conducted credible elections in Nigeria' over twenty years of uninterrupted democracy. Using structural functionalism as a theoretical framework for analysis, the paper relied heavily on secondary source of data collection (documentary sources), and also adopted the content analysis approach. Recommendations are made for sustaining the tempo of credible election delivery as witnessed in the 2015 general elections; some of which are or should be the consistency of policy statements and the strengthening of political institutions over and above political personalities.