CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The Nigerian polity over the years has been replete with endemic electoral fraud, rigging and outright violence. Rather than embracing elections as one of the most important processes that facilitate peaceful transition of power and strengthen democratic institutions, they are seen as means of acquiring the spoils of democracy (Sule, 2009).

The electorate’s minds had been manipulated into believing the misconception that the candidate that spends much deserves their vote. Most of these public officials that buy their way into public office through the display of materials wealth spend virtually half of their tenure in office to cover up for the money they have spent making campaign promises which hardly come to reality and after that, they begin to oil the political machines in preparation for the next election. Consequently, citizens in recent times have become more cynical about governance as there seems to be no hope in the functioning of the political institutions in the country (Irabor, 2012).

Since independence the country processes witnessed massive electoral fraud and violence which has compromised the very ethics of liberal democracy inspite of several electoral reforms that have had no positive effect. And this predicament to democratization process in Nigeria has rather been on the increase and there is no evidence of any serious and sincere effort made to stop it from reaching unsavoury levels.

While a great deal of the problem confronting elections and electoral process in the nation’s democratic history can be linked to the electorates’ behavioural and attitudinal attitude, the bulk of the blame must also be placed on the institutions that are responsible for conducting elections in country (Longman, 2009:21). Experience have shown that if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can step away from political influence and move away from status quo where a political party dominates the constitution of drivers of INEC there is every tendency that there will be a better conduct of election in the future. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s experience has been that rather being non-partisan and independent of the executive, past electoral commission elections in the country have been tied to the apron strings of the incumbent executive. The independent National Electoral commission (INEC) like its past predecessors, has shown partially and gross incompetence in the discharge of its responsibilities. INEC’s inability to effectively conduct and administer elections and the electoral process in the country has been detrimental on the nation’s effort at instituting credible and sustainable democratic system.

1. 1.2Statement of the Problem

It would be recalled that the 2007 elections reecked of all manner of chicanery characterised by the brazen attempt to disenfranchise the electorate and announce fictions results in areas where no elections took place, not to mention intimidation of the electorate, non-delivery of election materials, hijack of ballot boxes, bribery of electoral officers in order for them to look elsewhere when atrocious acts of perfidy were being perpetrated by party agents which all resulted in a bogus series of elections which both foreign and local observers described as nothing less than a travesty. This study examines the extent to which electoral fraud and violence undermined the general election in Nigeria using the 2007 presidential (general) elections as a case study.

1. 1.3Objective of the Study

The country’s electoral predicaments have become a worrisome episode as many politicians particularly those in government have resorted to the use of threat and violence to pursue their political goals. The objective of the study is to explore the role political or electoral fraud played in the 2007 presidential elections. It is equally to show that election rigging is a threat to national security and democracy. Hopefully this will increase our knowledge about the necessity for fair and free elections. This work evaluates the process, pattern and ways through which INEC conducted the 2007 general election. Thus, the objective of the study will include the need.

1. To appraise the causes of Nigeria electoral fraud in Nigeria

ii. To assess the effect of electoral fraud and violence on democracy and democratization.

iii. To highlight possible ways by which electoral fraud and violence can be eliminated.

1. 1.4 Significance of the Study

The bane of Nigeria’s political development has not been so much of lack of ideas of what needs to be done as a failure of the will and commitment to do the right things. Since return to civil rule in May 1999, the country has witnessed more violence with an estimated loss of life of more than 10,000 people (Jega, 2007:255) mostly during the period of elections with some 700 violent election related incidents. During the period of 2007 elections alone, well more than 300 persons were killed (Human Right Watch 2007). All this and more brings us to the need to examine electoral fraud in Nigeria using the 2007 general elections in Nigeria as a case study.

1. 1.5Research Question

That elections are at the core of democracy and the democratization process is no longer question, however, the various elections conducted in Nigeria since inception has been replete with all forms of anti-democratic and credibility problems. The country’s electoral institutions saddled with the responsibility to steer the country on its democratic sojourn have proved themselves unable to handle the seemingly herculean task. In line with the above, the following research question will be outlined to guide the study:-

1. What is the role, preparation and the neutrality of Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2007 elections?
2. How the role of electoral management body in election is critical to democratic sustainability and development.        
3. How can the political class and electoral commission be made more responsive in the electoral process

1.6Research Methodology

Considering the expository nature of the research project, the content analysis methodology will be adopted. This method requires a systematic analysis of data generated from secondary sources such as the internet, newspapers, magazines, journals, seminar papers, textbooks, and other significant documents.

1. Scope of the Study

Without doubt, the 2007 elections was evidence that the cub of election rigging which was born in 1964 had now become a wild rampaging lion, consuming all it saw and leaving a bloodied and shaking democracy in its wake. The process was characterised by unprecedented electoral malfeasance which led to wide condemnation from local and international observers.

Therefore, the scope of this work will take account of the events surrounding and leading up to the 2007 presidential (general) elections.

There is no undertaking without constrains. In a bid to achieve the objective of this work, the researcher encountered some challenges. These challenges include, but are not limited to challenges of:-

• Availability of Materials: – Documentation has been a major problem in Nigeria and this adversely affected the researcher in completing this work.
• Time: – In an effort to ensure that as much material was reviewed to render this project suitable coupled with the inavaiablity of research material much time was expended.
• Space: – To adequately enumerate all the issues surrounding rigging, electoral fraud and violence.

Considering the assortment of concepts with similar meaning, it behoves us to define certain terms used in this project. Therefore, the major concepts used in this work have been defined below.

• DEMOCRACY: – Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. Democracy is therefore a continuous process and struggle towards the actualization of these values.
• ELECTION: – Election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. It is the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Election can also be defined as a formal decision making process by which qualified citizens choose an individual to hold public office at a given time especially through ballot.
• Electoral Commission: – A non-partisan body which determines election procedures and oversees its conduct. An Electoral Commission must be independent, impartial, transparent and accountable. The Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one of the Nigerian federal executive bodies established by Section 153 (1) F of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution to perform the following amongst several other functions; organise, undertake and supervise elections into the federal and state political offices.
• Electoral Fraud: – Is any form of illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts and therefore the overall election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both. What electoral fraud is under law varies from country to country, in Nigeria they include, usually involve rigging, vote buying, hijacking of ballot boxes, misleading or confusing ballot papers, fictitious declaration of results, intimidations. Although technically the term ‘electoral fraud’ covers only those acts which are illegal, the term is sometimes used to describe acts which are legal but nevertheless considered morally unacceptable, outside the spirit of electoral laws, or in violation of the principles of democracy.
• Electoral Process: – The electoral process is a method by which voters make a decision between options often in an election or a referendum process. The process contains rules that are applicable for voting, how the votes are tallied and results announced. It also refers to all activities that takes place in an attempt to choose political leaders through voting at a particular time.
• Electoral Rigging: – This is the act of organizing an election with the intention to dishonestly get a particular result, or to ensure that a particular candidate / party wins at all cost. It is a form of electoral fraud and an interference with the election process.
• Electoral Violence: – Election Violence is any harm or threat of harm to any person or property involved in the election process, or to the election process itself, during the election period. Electoral violence is a type of political violence in which actors employ coercion in an instrumental way to advance their interests or achieve specific political ends. Violent acts can be targeted against people or things, such as the targeting ofcommunities or candidates or the deliberate destruction of campaign materials, vehicles, offices, or ballot boxes. Electoral violence is more than just physical violence – it is the oscillation between physical and psychological that achieves the purpose behind the violence.

REFERENCES

Human Rights Watch Commission (2007): Criminal politics, violence “godfatherisim” and corruption in Nigeria. A final Report of the Nigeria’s 2007 General Election, October, 2007 Vol.19 No. (16A)

Irabor, P. A. (2012): Counselling for Social Adjustment: Antidote to Nigeria’s Political Culture. Being a Paper Presented at the Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON), Enugu Chapter. Held at School Hall, National Grammar School, Nike, Enugu State from 16th to 17th of April, 2012.

Jega, A.M. eds (2007): Election and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria.

                   A Publication of the Nigerian Political Society Association

Longman’s. (2009): Electoral institutions and the Management of the

Democratization process: the Nigerian Experience Department of   political science, University of Ilorin

Sule M.U. (2009): Causes and Consequences of Youth Involvement in Electoral Violence. Paper Prepared and Presented at a One-Day Workshop on ”Youth Against Electoral Violence” Organised by Arewa Patriotic Vanguard in Collaboration with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Youth in the Northwest Zone Nigeria on 12th November, 2009.