THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) AND THE 2011 ELECTIONS

A NON-ROMANTIC VIEW

Abstract

Election management bodies are one of the most essential and strategic institutions in the democratic government system. To be specific, the whole idea of evolving a system through which rulers or leaders are popularly selected in a democracy begins first and foremost with working-out modalities on how to establish and institutionalize an umpire to moderate and manage the entire process. This, of course, is undeniably true of transiting or newly democratizing nations. In advanced liberal democracies of mainly Europe and America, the important role undertaken by these bodies in the electoral process has proven them one of the arch-engines or pillars upon which democracy as a system of governance stands. Despite the fact that these institutions operate under diverse names, organizational structures and sizes in different political context, one discernable element common among them lies in the primary responsibility they perform, that is, organizing and managing elections along-side other important functions. Upon this premise, therefore, this paper primarily sets out to appraise the performance of Nigeria’s own election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with regard to its conduct of the 2011 general elections. In a bid to achieve this aim, the paper is divided into many sections. Section one constitutes the introduction, while segment two consists of the background of the paper, law establishing INEC and its organogram. The third section undertakes an overview of INEC under the Fourth Republic, and the fourth segment periscopes the 2011 general elections. The fifth part introspects into the forthcoming 2015 general elections with particular attention paid to current issues relating to INEC’s preparation for the elections, while the sixth and seventh segments are the recommendations of the paper and the conclusion respectively.