Consolidation of Democracy in West Africa: A Case Study of Nigeria's Electoral Institutions

West Africa like other regions of Africa has undergone unprecedented changes in relation to the democratic process. Between the 1980s and 1990s, discussions and commentaries on democratic process in Africa were dominated by the controversy over the respective influence of external and internal factors that triggered this historical phenomenon. Almost three decades after the end of the Cold War, the state of democracy in West Africa could be best described through the metaphor of a glass half full or empty. Nigeria so far has experienced two decades of uninterrupted democracy and democratic transition from a military regime to a democratic regime from 1999 to date. However, history of failed elections has eroded public confidence in the electoral institutions, a challenge that hasantagonize Nigeria’s democracy and has contributed to the country’s democratic regression. This study was designed to examine the roles of the electoral institutions in consolidating democracy in West Africa. (A Case Study of Nigeria electoral institution). As it is, democracy in Africa faces the risk of being trapped in the electoral fallacy. Regular elections take place, but the democratic franchise has not become sufficiently diffused and entrenched as a mode of governance across political and social institutions. Therefore, it becomes interesting to examine the role of electoral institutions in consolidating and deepening democracy in Nigeria. The study, therefore, will use phenomenological research design that has the formed pattern of a qualitative research strategy to ascertain the empirical facts