ELECTORAL REFORMS AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA: THE ELECTORAL ACT 2006
ELECTORAL REFORMS AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA: THE ELECTORAL ACT 2006

Summary/Abstract: Periodic free and fair elections are central to democratic consolidation in Nigeria as in other parts of the world. Electoral laws provide the legal basis for the conduct of such elections, and the reform of these laws is a part and parcel of the efforts geared towards consolidating the country’s nascent democracy. The paper situates the Electoral Act 2006 within the specific historical experiences of Nigeria in the conduct of elections. It focuses on the remedial provisions of the act that are designed to address specific maladies of the Nigerian electoral system. It notes areas of continuity and change, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the act in addressing the critical issues involved. The paper concludes that while law remains important, and indeed indispensable, in electoral politics, a reform of the electoral laws has to be backed by structural changes in other spheres of the socio-political relations, in order to advance the course of sustainable democracy in Nigeria.

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