THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CHALLENGES OF ELECTORAL CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC

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ABSTRACT

This study which is titled the management of the challenges of electoral corruption in Nigeria’s fourth republic is focused on assessing the challenges of electoral corruption and the impact of these challenges on the integrity of governance in Nigeria. The study was guided by the following objectives; i) To investigate the factors that lead to electoral corruption.  ii)  To examine whether political parties are agents of electoral corruption. iii) To identify to the extent to which people participate in the electoral process of the country. The study employed descriptive research design and obtained data from both primary and secondary sources. Data from administered questionnaires were analyzed and presented with tables. The study revealed the relationship between electoral corruption, good governance, political parties and the participation of people. The study revealed.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Nigeria is strategically located in the West African continent with a population of over one hundred and forty million (140,000,000) (Ploch, 2012). The country is endowed with almost all the vegetation zones found in the tropic starting from the Sahel region in the extreme north through Savannah land in the forest region to the swamp mangrove down to the Atlantic oceans. (Cha, 2010:48). The country is bordered in the north with Niger, Cameroun in the east, Benin in the West and South to the Atlantic.

The Benue and Niger rivers which joint at Lokoja divide the country into three segment that approximated Nigerians political division up to 1963 i.e. northern, western and eastern regions. It is home to hundreds of other ethnic groups (each having its’ own political system, region, language and culture). These regions were respectively dominated by Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo groups. To be sure Nigeria is the most populous black country in the African continent (Chukwemeka, 2009:405). The country has abundant human and natural resources such as petroleum, cotton, cocoa, iron ore etc (USAID, 2007:1).

Since the Berlins conference of 1885, when Africa was partition among the European countries, Nigeria has experienced political domination, economic exploitation and cultural subjugation.

The country (Nigeria) was granted independence in 1960, through the struggle of the Nigerian nationalist in a peaceful process. Historically, the beginning of political party in Nigeria by Herbert Macaulay as the leading figure of the first generation of Nigerian nationalist as the political party was the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1920s.

The Nigerian National Democratic Party dominated Nigerian politics throughout the 1920s until the late 1930s when the Nigerian youth movement (NYM) emerged.