𝐎𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭

By Olaogun Michael Sunkanmi

Earlier in the week, I shared my thoughts on 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬: 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 

No doubt, there is an improvement in Nigeria's electoral process, but there are still fundamental challenges. An effort was made by 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐔𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐚 𝐘𝐚𝐫'𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚 to change the nation's electoral narrative that led to the  𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐔𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. Unfortunately, successive governments in Nigeria never recognized the 319-page report. 

Profoundly, Item 1.2, Page 1 of the document reads. "Nigeria's experience with democratic elections since independence has been rather mixed. Although the country has managed to transit from one administration to another, hardly any election conducted in the country has been completely free of charges of irregularities, electoral malpractices, violence and various degrees of disruptions. The factors responsible for this state of affairs include, among others, the character of the Nigerian State as the arena for electoral contests; the existence of weak democratic institutions and processes; negative political culture; weak legal/constitutional framework; and lack of independence and capacity of the Election Management Bodies." 

Sadly, after about 16 years of the existence of the report, the outcome of elections in Nigeria is still characterised by controversy.