ELECTORAL REFORMS AND GOVERNANCE IN KOGI STATE (1999-2021)

ELECTORAL REFORMS AND GOVERNANCE IN KOGI STATE (1999-2021)

Background of the study

It is impossible to place enough emphasis on how important elections are to the democratic process and to maintaining political stability. This is due to the fact that holding elections continues to be the cornerstone of democratic consolidation in every nation (Arowolo and Lawal, 2019). The way in which elections are run has emerged as a significant factor in determining how nations are ranked and classified. In every nation that has a culturally varied population, holding elections that are free and fair goes a long way toward establishing the future of peaceful coexistence amongst various cultural and racial subgroups. In addition, it has been shown that elections that are marked by huge amounts of fraud and malpractices of varied degrees pose a danger to both political stability and sustainable development.

This perspective might be one of the reasons why many African nations are plagued by political unrest and a striking lack of progress toward sustainable development (Arowolo and Lawal, 2019). In the annals of electoral history, elections in Africa, and particularly in Nigeria, have always been a living nightmare. It's not that elections themselves are bad, but rather that political players have decided to ignore the rules of the game while still insisting on playing it according to their own self-styled arrangements, which makes the situation rather precarious. Elections are not the reason why this is the case.

There has never been an election in Nigeria that was free of rigging and electoral fraud, with the possible exception of the election that took place on June 12, 1993, and more recently, the elections for governor that were held in the states of Edo and Ondo in 2012. The 1964 federal election, the 1965 Western Nigeria election, the General Elections of 1979, the General Elections of 1983, even the annulment of the General Elections in 1993, etc. remained the bases for violence in Nigeria and invitations to military rule. Other elections in Nigeria, such as the 1979 and 1983 General Elections, also contributed to the violence (Imobighe, 2016). Even though the general elections in 1999, 2003, and 2007 did not produce widespread violence and did not involve military intervention in political affairs, the conduct of those elections has been criticized as being extremely inadequate. According to assessments compiled by foreign and local observers, the general elections that took place in 2007 were the worst in the nation's history.

These elections failed to meet the most fundamental international and regional requirements for democratic elections. Continuing with this habit has the potential to grow and accumulate latent anarchy, which will eventually explode into chaos if immediate action is not made to address this aberration. On the basis of this argument, any intellectual dialogue on the subject of electoral reform is appropriately suitable (TELL, 2017). The inability to have elections that are free and fair is the most significant obstacle that Nigeria must overcome. As a direct consequence of election fraud, a great number of lives have been lost and a great deal of property has been destroyed. There is a wide range of wrongdoing associated with election fraud. Instability, loss of life and property, official irresponsibility and incompetence on the part of those in charge, along with corruption, poor management, political assassination, apathy, loss of interest in governance, and challenges of legitimacy crises are just some of the things that fall under this category (Arowolo and Lawal, 2019). Therefore, this study will examine electoral reforms and Governance in Kogi State (1999-2021).

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