Lets try to define what an electoral system is and how people vote in nigeria and abroad. Firstpastthepost fptp singlemember districts smd or singlememberplurality districts smpd. Herskovits 1979, nigeria rejected britains parliamentary form of democracy which they had continued after independence in 1960 and chose the first wholly nigerianmade constitution, to follow the american model instead. The essence of this article is to provide insight into the types of the election in nigeria and the electoral system operated. Ace electoral knowledge network expert site providing encyclopedia on electoral systems and management, country by country data, a library of electoral materials, latest election news, the opportunity to submit questions to a network of electoral experts, and a forum to discuss all of the above. This is as a result of the rascal politics that the political elites engage in. An appraisal of precipitating factors in nigeria olayiwola victor ojo m sc political science, university of ilorin, ilorin, nigeria abstract nigerias electoral politics from independence has been tumultuous. These are some of the changes that can minimize the electoral malpractices. An overview of presidential system at the local government level in nigeria prof. National government makes and carries out laws and policies for the whole country. Nigeria has made progress since its return to democracy in 1999. In an attempt at distinguishing a state from the political system, rummel r.
Apart from that the fact that this phenomenon affects the credibility of the electoral system, the democratic system and the. The health of any democracy, no matter its type or status, depends on a small technical. Top priorities for the continent in 2015 with rising income, lower unemployment and better educated citizens, and a much poorer. In nigeria in 1993, presidential candidates had to not only win a plu. Firstly, existing countryspecific analyses of types of electoral fraud have not really captured the judicial dimension of such fraud. Electoral reform and the prospects of democratic consolidation in nigeria j shola omotola j shola omotola is lecturer in the department of political science and public administration, redeemers university, nigeria email. Consists of the nigerian armed forces, navy, and air force. Primary elections held by the political parties to select each partys nominee for the general election. Nigerias elections so far have not live up to expectations due to various forms of electoral manipulations which have denied the country credible free and fair. Election rigging and the problems of electoral act in nigeria ayo awopeju department of political science, joseph ayo babalola university, ikejiarakeji, osun state, nigeria abstract the paper grappled with the election rigging and the flaws inherent in nigerian electoral act. Nigerias creaky political system council on foreign.
The theoretical framework for the study is cultural relativism. Electoral systems and the electoral system electoral systems exist to allow members of the society, express their preferences on candidates who are to represent them. A political system consists of the formal and informal structures which manifest the states sovereignty over a territory and people. In the political debate regarding electoral system, especially in those countries with less.
Electoral system in nigeria by david anyasi by david. In september, the first election took place in lagos and calabar. General studies directorate abubakar tafawa balewa university, bauchi, nigeria email. Department of political science, lund university, po box 52, lund 221 00, sweden. The objective of this paper was to examine various electoral malpractices and problems in africa, looking critically at suffrage, franchise and elections and the attendant problems as. Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. Therefore, this paper attempts to extrapolate the factors for the frequent breakdown of laws and. Federalism is a system of government that establishes a constitutionally specified division of powers between different levels of government. At the heart of evs is the electronic voter register evr, which, by capturing the names of all eligible voters, eliminates duplication and thereby minimizes discrepancies in the electoral process.
Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah gabriel sous dir. Electoral systems can be divided into three general types. Presidential and parliamentary systems are the two universally acclaimed systems of organizing. The nigerian election is a means of choosing and electing choice representatives to the nigerian federal government and the various states in nigeria. Nigeria has a federal system of government, with different tiers of jurisdiction. Interethnic and interreligious conciliation electoral systems that produce proportional results or accountability to constituents. An overview of presidential system at the local government. Itbased solutions to the electoral system in nigeria. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Mapping, evolution and patterns june 2006 may 2014 executive summary an analysis of the nigeria watch database for the period between june 2006 and may 2014 revealed 915 fatal incidents related to elections.
Nigeria, july 2008 2 of slaves flowed north across the sahara for a millennium, ending only at the beginning of the twentieth century. Anyone may voluntarily participate above the age of 18. Democracy and electoral process in nigeria politics essay. Ace electoral knowledge network expert site providing encyclopedia on electoral systems. The research did not include terrorist attacks by islamic or militant groups with. Electoral systems in civilised societies permit the coexistence of different. Pdf critical analysis of nigerias 2011 electoral system and the. The international idea handbook of electoral system design.
Kewir although three common types of electoral systems can be identified, namely. A countrys electoral system is the method used to calculate the number of elected positions in government that individuals and parties are awarded after elections. The nigerian electoral process in perspective elections under colonial rule before independence in 1960, nigeria, which existed as an amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates since 1914, had already witnessed three different elections. However, members of the peoples democratic party pdp had controlled the presidency since elections were resumed in 1999 until 2015 when muhammadu buhari won the presidential election. Abstract based on an original data set of elections in africa, this article addresses the orthodoxy of theoretical hypotheses regarding the e. Pdf the electoral process and democratic consolidation in nigeria. A great deal of research has considered the consequences of \electoral engineering, or how an electoral system can mitigate or encourage the use of violence based on election results. Although, violence is not the only dimension a ected by the choice of electoral system, as pointed out in norris, 1997.
Election rigging and the problems of electoral act in nigeria. Again, with electoral systems, it is always a question of knowing what one wants and choosing among alternatives, all of which will have some undesirable features. The crisis of the electoral system in nigeria will be better understood if. Electoral commission inec of nigeria, political parties, the media and civil. The choice of electoral system is one of the most important institutional decisions for any democracy. Within nigeria, slavery was widespread and bore social implications that are still evident. It requires more transparency, better control, and attention from the public. Redefining political party structures in nigerias electoral system. Pdf on jul 28, 2011, nnanyelugo m ahamanyanwu and others published.
Furthermore, with all the problems that exist in nigerias electoral system. Manual had to be issued when the distribution of the cards started only four days before. The house of representatives has 360 members which are elected for a fouryear term in singleseat constituencies and there are 109 members in the senate members elected as senate members. During the electoral processes, nigerians a representative to the office. Nigerian voting system an electoral or voting system, in general, is a method through which people of a certain country elect their presidents, governments or other administrative or political officials.
It is necessary to figure out the problems in the electoral system and present solutions for them. Electoral systems provide different kinds of incentives to appeal to voters in order to yield electoral pay. In some cases, however, a federal system may prescribe a threefold. In this post, we will discus the issues behind electoral violence in nigeria.
Here, you will see the history of electoral violence in nigeria, factors responsible for electoral violence in nigeria, effects of electoral violence in nigeria as well as solutions to electoral violence in nigeria way forward. The international idea handbook of electoral system design ifes. Lindberg department of political science, lund university, po box 52, lund 221 00, sweden abstract based on an original data set of elections in africa, this article addresses the orthodoxy of theoretical hypotheses regarding the e. The choice of a particular electoral system has a profound effect on the future political life of the country concerned, and electoral systems, once chosen, often remain fairly constant as political interests solidify around and respond to the incentives presented by them. Nigeria has a multiparty system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful. Thus, we have written this section to present some of the alternatives to election management currently being implemented in electoral systems throughout the world. Types of election systems in nigeria and other countries. This paper pays attention to the three electoral systems. Electoral commissions and the conduct of elections in nigeria.
Nigeria in need of electronic voting system vanguard news. As aforementioned, the military ruled the country between independence in 1960 and 1999 when nigeria. Electoral system design is now accepted as being of crucial importance to wider issues of governance, and as probably the most influential of all political institutions. Sometimes, the violence is intraparty, and most of the time, it is interparty. Horowitz to evaluate an electoral system or to choose a new one, it is necessary to ask first what does one want the electoral system to do. Types of democracy the democratic form of government is an institutional configuration that allows for popular participation through the electoral process. In the primary, separate party ballots are printed, and the voter must choose between the ballot with democrats running against other democrats or the one on which republicans run against other republicans. According to political scientist robert dahl, the democratic ideal is based on two principles. This study has the potential to contribute in many ways to the general systematic studies of electoral fraud. Manual for election officials 2019, framework for voting by. The plethora of cases emanating from the 2015 elections demands for total electronic voting system as the only panacea for credible, free and fair election in nigeria.
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