An Exploration of the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria: A Review of the Legal Framework (Published)
Elections in Nigeria, particularly from 1999 after the armed forces hand over to a democratically elected government, the political authority have continued to be the foremost system of accomplishing justifiable ruling. Nigerian electoral system has been modeled after American democratic system. However, whether this electoral replica has improved democratic system in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is controversial. It must be clearly stated that ballot snatching, vote buying, distribution of food items for the purposes of winning elections always occur and the 2019 general elections is not an exception. Hence, the main focus of this article is to analyze the synopsis of elections in Nigeria and review the legal framework. From this point of view, a resonance electoral progression is intended to accomplish four essential objectives which are accountable and responsible leadership, openness, communal fairness and a passionately partaking electorate. The western world from where Nigeria copied its electoral system has significantly perfected the procedures desirable for their own environment to accomplish the aforementioned objectives while Nigeria is still battling to achieve the aforementioned goals as evidenced from numerous election Petitions that trails every election. The methodology adopted is doctrinal and the secondary research method involving the use of published scholarly books, journals, internet materials, daily newspapers, magazines and encyclopedia. At this juncture, the research recommended among other things that the electoral sanity can be accomplished through developing fundamental apparatus such as the tenet of law, parliamentary sovereignty and headship that reverence public views.
Keywords: Elections, Life, Reformation, ballot boxes, electoral law, snatch