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Corruption And Electoral Process: A Comparative Study Of The 2011 And 2015 Presidential Elections In Nigeria
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Nigeria has had a checkered electoral history with successive elections
being marred by serious irregularities and controversy- particularly in
the conduct of its electoral commission. This has led in some cases to
the collapsed of democratic experiments as occurred in 1966 and 1983.
The 2011 and 2015 presidential elections in Nigeria provided a good
opportunity to occasion a break with the past and rekindle public
confidence in the electoral and democratic process of the country.
However, this was not to be as the elections, according to several local
and international observers turned out to be the worst in Nigeria’s
political history (European Union: 2013, Human Rights Watch: 2015,
Transition Monitoring Group: 2015). Like its predecessors, INEC was
accused of not being able to engender public confidence in the electoral
process or organize transparent and credible elections.
Since the conduct of presidential elections of 2011 and 2015, a pattern
is already emerging which points to the fact that political elites have
not learnt much from the mistakes of the past. The various crises
plaguing the major parties and emerging ones and the various inter-party
crisis of the defections in the National Assembly, cross carpeting of
representatives and other elected officers in the country are vivid
instances of this tendency. This danger has resulted to the high level
of political abduction, harassment, arson, and assassinations,
withdrawal of credible and qualified professionals in the race. It is
against this backdrop that this research study seeks to investigate
corruption and electoral process: a comparative study of the 2011 and
2015 presidential election in Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The study is conducted with the following objectives:
1) To investigate the effect of electoral malpractices on the electoral process in Nigeria.
2) To explore the effect of electoral corruption on the outcomes of the 2011 presidential election in Nigeria.
3) To examine the effect of electoral corruption on the conduct of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria.
4) To find out the challenges of conducting a free and credible presidential elections in Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
The study is guided by the following research questions:
1) What is the effect of electoral malpractices on the electoral process in Nigeria?
2) What is the effect of electoral corruption on the outcomes of the 2011 presidential election in Nigeria?
3) What is the effect of electoral corruption on the conduct of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria?
4) What are the challenges of conducting free and credible presidential elections in Nigeria?
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