Credible Elections and Consolidation of Democracy in Nigeria

The paper examines that elections are a critical part of the democratic process, and the existence of free elections is a major difference between democracies and totalitarian forms of government. Thus, credible elections play important roles in the furtherance and strengthen of democratic consolidation and good governance. The paper adopts the classical theory of democracy as its theoretical framework in order to have an insight into the subject under review. However, despite the country’s efforts at ensuring credible elections, Nigeria is confronted with the challenges of conducting free, fair and elections. The paper recommends that there should be proper electoral law to guide the electoral process. The electoral body should be independent to conduct elections in lines with the electoral laws and global best practices. Appointments into the electoral body should be done by an independent body to avoid executive interference.