THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA DEMOCRACY
Moses .M. Adagbabiri, & Ugo .C. Okolie
Department of Political Science, Delta State University Abraka, Nigeria.
Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, Edo State Study Centre, Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Email: adagbabirimoses@gmail.com, Ugookolie2@gmail.com
Abstract
In the eve of transition from the military authoritarian regime, democracy was packaged by the apostles of democratization, both domestic and international, to Nigerians as a sine qua-non for development. Hence with the return to civil rule on May 29, 1999, the mantra of dividends of democracy which soon fizzled out became the populist political rhetoric. The hope for economic, social and political justice, popular empowerment, development and better life with the advent of democracy provoked was supplanted by injustice, disempowerment, insecurity, maladministration, poverty, indignities, backwardness and under development (Odukoya, 2015). Nigerians have become devalued, underdeveloped and victims of a flawed democracy. Africa is democratizing but the democratization occurring in African does not appear to be in the least emancipator. On the contrary, it is legitimizing the disempowerment of ordinary people who seen to be worse off than they used to be because their political oppression is no longer perceived as a problem inviting solution, but a solution endowed with moral and political legitimacy (Ake, 1994). The 2015 general elections was in several respects a historical watershed in Nigeria. The elections took place against the background of important but debilitating factors namely: The presidency challenge, security threats and election postponement, opposition merger, the expiration of tenure, intemperate political rhetoric, sanctity and independence of the electoral administration/ process, states where incumbents were not returning, proliferations of arms and privatization of security, state capacity to checkmate violence, nomination of candidates etc. These factors are strongly affecting democratic stability and consolidation. The analysis of the above factors is the mainstream of this paper.Keywords: Democracy, Election, Electoral Democracy, Democratization