The Politics of Electoral Reform in Nigeria

Unarguably, elections are the bedrocks of any democratic institution. Elections in Nigeria have been marred with various malpractices. This is evident in the report of both national and international observers. As a result of this, electoral reform becomes an imperative for democratic consolidation in Nigeria. President Yar‟Adua set up an electoral review committee headed by a former Chief Justice of Federation to examine the entire electoral process with a view to ensuring that Nigeria raises quality and standard of general elections and thereby deepen her democracy; having accepted that elections that brought him into power were marred with irregularities. The thrust of this paper starts with introductory overview of the topic. It proceeds to the need for electoral reform in Nigeria taking into consideration, core recommendations of electoral reform committee and federal government white paper. The part three dwells in Nigeria‟s electoral management body while part four reviewed 2007 general elections and need for electoral reform. Part five examined some models from other democratic countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Botswana, United States and United Kingdom. The final section provides way forward and conclusion. This paper examined critically the politics of electoral reform in Nigeria and recommendations of electoral reform committee.