Electoral Act In Nigeria: A Quest To Putting An End To The Problem Of Rigging During Election.

Electoral Act In Nigeria: A Quest To Putting An End To The Problem Of Rigging During Election.

Chapter One

Preface

Background of the Study

utmost nations’ electoral sins lead to election fraud, which poses a severe peril to popular principles in any free republic. According to Ismailaa, & Zaheruddin( 2016), utmost African countries’ electoral rules include these sins. Kenya, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and other nations are affected by blights in the Electoral Act. These problems have an impact on Nigeria’s republic. Nigeria’s republic is the most vibrant in Africa, with a population of over 150 million people. Nigeria is so massive that it’s said that when Nigeria declines, so does Africa. As a result, much is anticipated of Nigeria. This implies that the manner in which she conducts her choices serves as a model for other African republic. Nigeria earned independence from British imperialism in 1960 and was born into republic. When mercenary control atrophied due to a variety of circumstances, the most significant of which was a fraudulent election, the seeds of republic had yet to grow.

It’s critical to fete at this point that republic and choices are intricately intertwined. The reason for this is that without choices, there’s no republic since electorates exercise their popular sovereignty by giving their assent to a certain political office deliverer to rule. Nigeria faced election- related issues, which rendered Nigerian republic a phantom among the world’s nations. In reality, this is at the heart of the challenges that Nigeria’s popular trial faces moment. Nigerians have constantly emphasized the need of translucency in the process by which political office holders gain political power( Birch 2019). When a politician earnings superintendent power through the aft door, through election fraud and the use of violence, he undermines republic and creates preventable excrescencies in the system. There are several variables to condemn for Nigeria’s defective choices. The incapacity of the electoral commission, which serves as an arbiter in the electoral process, the do- or- die pattern of political parties to capture political power by any means, wide procedural irregularities, multitudinous frequentness of violence, intimidation of the electorate, filling of the electoral box, electorate poverty, and so on are among the major factors. numerous choices have been so hotly queried that the country’s and republic’s actuality has been gambled . This woeful history of election fraud has major consequences for Nigeria’s popular future since, rather than lessening, the practise is rising and getting more sophisticated with each posterior election. Election fraud or irregularities were discovered in the choices of 1964, 1965, 1979, 1983, 1999, 2003, and 2007. Elaigwu( 2007) cited in Vickery and Shein( 2018), examines the patterns of the election process after 1999, claiming” The electoral process has been extremity- ridden since 1999.” Since also, it appears that each election has been worse than the former bone . As a result, administrations arrive with a baggage of legality issues, which constantly complicates the dynamics of federalism. This is what happed following the choices in 2003 and 2007.

Statement of the Problem

In recent times, choices in a third- world nation like Nigeria may be compared to a relay race, in which one administration delivers the cane of power to another. It’s the foundation of every licit administration in any popular governance. According to Omotola( 2018), when choices are marred by intimidation, vote buying, manipulation, forging of ballot papers, ballot box swiping, and other electoral malpractices, the entire process loses credibility, and any government that emerges can not be called believable. On Friday, February 25th, 2022, the Nigerian public was saluted with the good news that the long- awaited Electoral Amendment Bill 2022 had been inked into law by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The National Assembly passed the Bill on November 10, 2021, and it was transferred toMr. President for his presidential assent via a letter dated January 31, 2022.

The new Act, among other effects, establishes the Independent National Electoral Commission Fund, through which payments from the Federal Government, investments made from the fund, and other aids and subventions will be paid to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission(” the Commission”) to carry out its functions. likewise, The New Electoral Act( henceforth appertained to as The New Act) incorporated several creative aspects targeted at utilising specialized advancements to grease and ultimately conduct licit choices in the country. The new Act requires the Commission to save the Register of Choosers at its National Headquarters and other places, with the Register kept in electronic mode in its central database, as well as homemade or hardcopy format. This Register was only saved in homemade or paper format under the former Act( Ebegbulem, 2022).

Although the provision made by the 2022 Electoral act is estimable, political scholars are in mistrustfulness in its energy to promote translucency and effectiveness in the Commission’s record- keeping and in tracking the number of registered choosers who’ll be advancing in the forthcoming choices, thereby bridling illegal voting bynon-registered choosers and election apparel. Upon this premise the experimenter seeks to electoral act in Nigeria a hunt to putting an end to the problem of apparel during election.

Ideal Of The Study

The broad ideal of this study is to examine electoral act in Nigeria a hunt to putting an end to the problem of apparel duringelection.Other specific objects includes

1. To examine the extent at which election is outfitted in Nigeria political space

2. To probe nature of electoral misconduct acclamatized in Nigeria Election.

3. To ascertain whether the new 2022 electoral bill significantly addressed the problem of election apparel in its provision.

Exploration Hypotheses

The study is guided by the following conditional statement.

HO1 The extent at which election is outfitted in Nigeria political space is low previous to 2022 bill

HO1 The extent at which election is outfitted in Nigeria political space is high previous to 2022 bill

HO2 The 2022 electoral bill didn’t address the problem of election apparel in its provision

HO2 The 2022 electoral bill significantly addressed the problem of election apparel in its provision

Significance of the Study

This exploration is significant in such a way that it examines the phenomenal metamorphosis the new electoral bill bring to Nigeria republic as it addresses the problem of election misconduct and how it threatens the sweats at democratization in Nigeria’s fourth democracy. It alsox-rays the abecedarian factors associated with election misconduct announcement eventually recommends ways for preventing them. It’ll serve as an eye nature to experimenters, government officers and general compendiums who truly intend to understand the manacle to popular connection in Nigeria. To government and INEC, the study will prompt them to follow through the provision of the bill in the forthcoming 2023 choices towards upholding fair and believable choices. Again, it’ll serve to acclimatize the public and produce mindfulness as to the destructive capabilities of election misconduct towards the aspiration for democratization in Nigeria.

Compass of the Study

The compass of this study borders on examine electoral act in Nigeria a hunt to putting an end to the problem of apparel during election. The study will further bandy nature of electoral misconduct acclamatized in Nigeria Election and whether whether the new 2022 electoral bill significantly addressed the problem of election apparel in its provision. The study is still demarcated to Federal Capital home Abuja.

Limitation of the Study

Like in every mortal bid, the experimenters encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the deficiency of literature on comprehensive data covering 2022 electoral bill. therefore important time and association was needed in sourcing for the applicable accoutrements , literature, or information and in the process of data collection. Also the study is limited in period as the study covered only INEC officers in Federal Capital home Abuja. thus findings of this study can not be used for conception for other times of administration innovated by the two chairman which creates a gap in compass and gives room for farther studies.

Description of Terms

Election An election is a formal group decision- making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individualities to hold public office.

Election misconduct Election misconduct refers to all illegitimate acts carried out before, during and after choices in order to impact the issues of an election to the advantage of a particular political party and to the detriment of the other( s). similar illegitimate acts include apparel, roughneck, violence, intimidation, fraud, bribery, vote buying, misrepresentation and all kind of illegal manipulations depended on altering the else anticipated outgrowth of an election.

Electoral reform Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to ameliorate how public solicitations are expressed in election results.