INTERROGATING THE INDEPENDENCE OF INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) IN NIGERIA

Ndema, Samuel Chukwuma (2025) INTERROGATING THE INDEPENDENCE OF INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) IN NIGERIA. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 11 (2). pp. 33-47. ISSN 2360-9877

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Abstract

Nigeria operates a highly centralized federal system in which the president appropriates and wields enormous executive powers over the entire affairs of the Federation. The president exercises these powers by appointing government officials and determining their remunerations. In so doing and because institutions in Nigeria are relatively weak to check the excesses of some strong Nigerian politicians, the president appoints and also tends to influence how INEC principal officers discharge their statutory election functions. To ensure free and fair elections, and given the nature of its assignment on competing interests, the constitution guarantees INEC independence to ensure its neutrality and impartiality. However, INEC does not seem to enjoy independence. This study therefore, interrogates the independence of Independent National Electoral Commission in conduct of free and fair elections in Nigeria. The study leverages available documents, and personal experience premised on in-depth descriptive statistical and content analyses. The data elicited from these methods reveals that government interference in INEC membership composition, finances, and operations considerably accounts for recurring lethal electoral irregularities and deflates public confidence in the electoral process to stunning lows in Nigeria. Thus, this study argues that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not considerably asserted its independence to guarantee quality elections due to government interference in its management of Nigerian elections. This interference also exposes the weakness of government-driven electoral reforms, which underscore the need for voter-driven reformation to usher in an electoral system that is best and acceptable to the majority of the voting population in Nigeria and elsewhere.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
J Political Science > JC Political theory
Divisions: Faculty of Management and Social Sciences
Depositing User: mrs chioma hannah
Date Deposited: 20 Mar 2025 09:33
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2025 09:33
URI: http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/4440

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