EFFECT OF INCONCLUSIVE ELECTION ON THE CREDIBILITY OF ELECTORAL PROCESS IN NIGERIA

1.1 Introduction

Election is the nerve and brain of democratic system. It is the instrument and a procedure for choice of leadership in a liberal manner where the political leaders compete for power while the voters are allowed to exercise their rights (Smith, 2015). The world is contemporarily dominated by democratic governance and this has made an election a pivotal activity in nation-states (Buttorff, 2019). In essence, election is a determinant factor in which political institutions and political actors display their choices, policy preferences, ideology, liberty, freedom and desire of who wants to rule and who is wanted to rule (Cole, 2017).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Inconclusive election has been a hydra-monster on Nigeria electoral process this is so due to many factors which attribute to the origination of the word inconclusive election. Prior to 2015 general election, the term inconclusive election was not a popular slogan in Nigeria. The word inconclusive election became popular during the tenure of Professor Yakubu who is the current Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission National (INEC). At this point it is pertinent to understand the meaning of election. Election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. It has also been described as a celebration of democracy whereby the electorates are given the opportunity to elect leaders who will take charge of governance within a given period of time (Saminu, 2016).

Indeed, because it is a process and not an event, election management bodies worldwide deploy human and material resources in a bid to enhance free, fair and credible process; this, perhaps, underscores why the electoral cycle stipulates pre-election, election and post-election activities. In recent times in Nigeria, however, the process has assumed a new but dangerous dimension, with its history becoming replete with inconclusive polls. The Independent National Electoral Commission says it will not be ready to conclude the legislative rerun elections in Rivers State until October this year.

The tensions created by the rising incidents violence were further fuelled by the inflammatory rhetoric from major election contenders. In an effort to ensure violence-free elections, the Federal Government, through the Inspector General of Police and the Chief of Army Staff, deployed over 6,000 policemen, 14 units of Mobile Policemen (MOPOL), and military personnel to strategic locations and hotspots of violence across the state. Despite these deployments, many violent incidents, including killings, were reported a few days before the elections (Baregu, 2009).

The electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) set a guideline for the conduct of the election including the use of smart card readers, ra-tech for e- collation, and the constitutional provision that a candidate vying for any electoral office must fulfill the criteria of winning with a simple majority in addition to securing at least 25% of the votes in 2/3 of his constituency (Sule, 2019). An additional guideline was set which indicates that for a candidate to be declared a winner, the total number of votes cancelled should not be more than the winning margin between the leading candidate and other competitors. Cancellation of votes in Nigerian election is a normal culture because of the political culture of zero-sum game, violence, manipulations and logistics problem. Eventually, during the process of the electoral conduct in 2019 in gubernatorial election, the cases of cancellation emerged in some states which are Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto. Elections in some states that did not experienced cancellation too were not what the Nigerians wish for such as Bayelsa and Kogi. The irregularities recorded in these states led to many condemnations and negative reports of the 2019 General Election by both local and international stakeholders (European Union, 2019).

Therefore, in Sokoto State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effect of Inconclusive Election on the Credibility of Electoral Process in 2019 Governorship Elections.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the problem associated with inconclusive election is enormous ranging from financial burden, security, awareness and mass education. Inconclusive election brings more burden to the federal, state and local government, this also contribute to lack of reliability in the electoral process, this can be seen during the December 10th legislative re-run election in Sokoto state as the PDP were accusing INEC and APC of collaboration, the PDP believed that the APC were using the power of incumbency to manipulate the electoral commission to their favor, while the APC were accusing the government of Sokoto State of trying to bribe the electoral commission as published in the media.

All these accusation and counter accusation does not augur well with Nigeria democracy as international community and independent observers are watching. Therefore, this study stresses the need to find out the causes and effect of inconclusive election in Sokoto State.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Effect of Inconclusive Election on the Credibility of Electoral Process in Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To ascertain the role of INEC towards eliminating inconclusive elections in the area under study;
2. To ascertain the causes of inconclusive election in the area under study;
3. To determine the challenges facing INEC towards conducting credible elections in the area under study; and
4. To evaluate the effect of inconclusive election on the Credibility of Electoral Process in Nigeria.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the role of INEC towards eliminating inconclusive elections in the area under study?
• What are the causes of inconclusive election in the area under study?
• What are the challenges facing INEC towards conducting credible elections in the area under study?
• What is the effect of inconclusive election on the Credibility of Electoral Process in Nigeria?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant challenges facing INEC towards conducting credible elections in Nigeria.
• H1: There are significant challenges facing INEC towards conducting credible elections in Nigeria.

1.7 Significance of Study

The findings will be beneficial to the electoral commission (INEC) in their bid to conduct an itch free election; the study will also be of great benefit to the political parties who are the major players in the electoral process.

The study will also be of great benefit to the electorate in educating them on the nemesis of election violence.

Finally the findings of this study will also be immense benefit to government, academia, scholars, researchers and the general public.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Effect of Inconclusive Election on the Credibility of Electoral Process in Nigeria.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.10 Definition of Terms

Election: Election is a formal decision- making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. It has also been described as a celebration of democracy whereby the electorates are given the opportunity to elect leaders who will take charge of governance within a given period of time.

Nomination: Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office by a political party, or the bestowing of an honor or award.

Political Party: A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. The party agrees on some proposed policies and programmes, with a view to promoting the collective good or furthering their supporters’ interests.