THE JUDICIALISATION OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS AND DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC
Amos Asongo Jev, PhD, Danjuma Yusuf, PhD, Auwal Abubakar Chul and Haruna Muhammad Haruna
Volume 11 Issue 4
Abstract
Since the start of the fourth republic in 1999, transition processes have been riddled with crisis which sometimes leads to formations of factions within a party and as always, it requires the Judiciary to determine which faction is legitimate. The judiciary therefore has not only been engraved in the political process in Nigeria but to also seem to make the final decisions. The judiciary is increasingly becoming a major pillar concerning issues emanating from the electoral process since the beginning of the fourth republic in Nigeria. The involvement of the judiciary in the electoral process in Nigeria has become so perverse that most election results especially the presidential elections were decided by the judiciary since the beginning of the fourth republic in Nigeria. This situation has resulted in establishing two phases in Nigeria’s electoral process, that is; the general elections phase which is overseen by the election management body and the judiciary phase which is over seen by the judiciary. It is in view of this that this study examined the judicialisation of the electoral process and democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s fourth republic. The data collected principally from secondary sources was analyzed using content analysis and descriptive qualitative analysis. The theory adopted to guide the study is the institution integrity theory. The fundamental idea of this theory presupposes the existence of core values, ethics, standards and principles on which an institution is established. Findings reveal that electoral outcomes mostly announced by the electoral management body (INEC) have been reversed on several occasion by the election tribunals and later upturned by appeal courts. The study therefore, recommends that there should be stiff provisions for grounds for challenging election outcomes at the tribunal. Also, the election management body should use the off cycles election to innovate on the use of technology for a more acceptable electoral process that will reduce or eliminate altogether the judicialisation of the electoral process in Nigeria’s fourth republic. Keywords: Democracy, Democratic Consolidation, Electoral process, Fourth republic, Judicialisatio
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