Democracy, Elections and Participation

Civic Education · WAEC · SS2 and SS3

Nigeria has run uninterrupted civil rule since 29 May 1999, the longest stretch in its history, and this topic tests whether you can explain how that system is supposed to work and where it leaks. Expect questions on the features of democracy, the functions of INEC and the forms of electoral malpractice.

What you need to know

Democracy, in Abraham Lincoln's formulation, is government of the people, by the people and for the people. Direct democracy has citizens taking decisions themselves, as in a referendum; indirect or representative democracy, which Nigeria practises, has them choosing representatives to decide on their behalf.
The features to memorise are periodic free and fair elections, universal adult suffrage, rule of law, an independent judiciary, a multi-party system, freedom of the press, protection of fundamental rights, majority rule with respect for minority rights, and constitutional limits on the term of office.
Nigeria operates a presidential system in a federation. The President is both Head of State and Head of Government, elected directly for a four-year term renewable once. Ministers are appointed and screened but are not members of the legislature, which is what separates the presidential from the parliamentary model.
INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, is created by the Constitution. It registers political parties, compiles and revises the register of voters, issues Permanent Voter's Cards, conducts elections to the offices of President, Senator, Member of the House of Representatives, Governor and Member of a State House of Assembly, monitors party finances and campaigns, and announces results.
INEC does not conduct local government elections. Those are run by each State Independent Electoral Commission, and the near-total dominance of the ruling party in SIEC-run council elections is the standard example used in essays on the weakness of local democracy.
A voter must be a Nigerian citizen of eighteen years or above, registered in a polling unit and holding a Permanent Voter's Card. Voting is by secret ballot, and a person may vote only once and only at the unit where he registered.
The Electoral Act 2022 replaced the 2010 Act. It gave legal backing to electronic accreditation of voters, provided for electronic transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, required political appointees to resign before seeking a party ticket, and set out timelines for primaries and for the early release of election funds.
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, verifies a voter by reading the PVC and matching the voter's fingerprint or face before he is allowed to vote, and it uploads the polling unit result sheet. Its purpose is to kill multiple voting and ghost voting.
The Not-Too-Young-To-Run Act of 2018 lowered the minimum age for President from forty to thirty-five and for the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly from thirty to twenty-five. Senate and Governor remained at thirty-five. Candidates must also be citizens by birth, educated to at least School Certificate level, and sponsored by a political party.
To win the presidential election a candidate must score the highest number of votes and at least one-quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory. Without that spread there is a run-off, and the spread rule exists to force national rather than regional support.
Forms of electoral malpractice you should be able to name: multiple registration and multiple voting, under-age voting, vote buying and inducement, snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, falsification and inflation of results, impersonation, intimidation by thugs, late or non-delivery of materials to opposition strongholds, and compromise of electoral officials.
Democracy Day was moved from 29 May to 12 June and has been observed on 12 June since 2019, in recognition of the 12 June 1993 presidential election widely regarded as the freest in Nigeria's history and whose presumed winner, M. K. O. Abiola, was never sworn in.
Political participation is wider than voting. It includes registering to vote, joining and paying dues to a party, contesting elections, serving as a party agent or accredited observer, campaigning, attending town hall and constituency meetings, paying tax, joining pressure groups and civil society organisations, writing to a representative and taking part in lawful protest.
Low participation in Nigeria is explained by voter apathy after broken promises, fear of violence at polling units, the cost and difficulty of registration, godfatherism that makes the primary more decisive than the general election, and the belief that results are predetermined. Any of these is a valid point in an essay on improving turnout.

Key terms

Democracy: A system of government in which sovereign power belongs to the people and is exercised by them directly or through freely elected representatives.
Universal adult suffrage: The right of every qualified adult citizen, in Nigeria every citizen of eighteen years and above, to vote without discrimination.
Electorate: The whole body of citizens registered and entitled to vote in an election.
Political party: An organised body of people sharing common political ideas and aims, formed to contest elections and to control the machinery of government.
Electoral malpractice: Any illegal or irregular act done before, during or after an election to influence its outcome unfairly.
Rigging: The deliberate manipulation of an election through falsified results, illegal voting or violence so that the declared outcome does not reflect the votes actually cast.
Godfatherism: The practice by which a powerful sponsor finances and imposes a candidate and then expects control over the office in return.

Worked examples

State six functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission. (12 marks)

Work through the election cycle in order: before, during and after polling.
Before: register parties, register voters, issue PVCs, conduct voter education, monitor campaign finance.
During and after: conduct the election, accredit observers, collate and announce results, issue the certificate of return.
Write six distinct functions. Two statements that mean the same thing earn one mark, not two.

Answer: INEC registers political parties and monitors their organisation and finances. It compiles, maintains and revises the national register of voters and issues Permanent Voter's Cards. It conducts voter education and publicises the electoral timetable. It conducts elections into the offices of President, Vice-President, Senate, House of Representatives, Governor, Deputy Governor and State Houses of Assembly. It accredits observers and monitors the campaign. It collates, announces and publishes results and issues certificates of return to winners.

Identify four causes of voter apathy in Nigeria and suggest two remedies. (10 marks)

Separate causes from remedies clearly, with a sub-heading for each, because the marks are split.
Give causes that are specific to Nigeria rather than generic laziness.
Match at least one remedy to a cause you listed so the answer reads as a single argument.

Answer: Causes: unfulfilled promises by past winners, which convinces voters that the outcome changes nothing; fear of violence and thuggery at polling units; the long and costly process of registration and collection of the PVC; and the belief that results are manipulated regardless of how people vote. Remedies: sustained civic and voter education by INEC and the National Orientation Agency, and credible transparent conduct of elections with results uploaded in real time so that each voter can verify the figure from his own polling unit.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates credit INEC with conducting local government elections. It does not; State Independent Electoral Commissions do. The second common error is reciting the Not-Too-Young-To-Run ages wrongly: it lowered the President to thirty-five and the House of Representatives and State Assembly to twenty-five, and it did not change the Senate or the Governor. Candidates also confuse a referendum, which is direct democracy, with a general election.

In the exam

Functions questions are the bread and butter here, so practise writing six crisp, non-overlapping functions in six numbered lines. If a question asks for problems and solutions, split your answer under two headings and give the same number of each. Use real Nigerian references such as BVAS, the IReV portal and the Electoral Act 2022, because concrete examples lift a generic answer into the top band.