Electoral Management Bodies, Information and Communications Technology and Democratisation Process in Nigeria

Abstract

One of the basic features of democracy is the presence of periodic elections, and Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) saddled with the responsibility are faced with dynamic and multi-faceted challenges. However, comparative analyses of experiences, processes, performance delivery across developing and developed nations have shown consistent engagement with modern technologies. Nigeria, the black nation's world biggest democracy currently in the fourth republic that has spanned a record time of almost twenty years, still records negative elections reports at the pre-election, election, and post-election stages ranging from disenfranchisement, apathy, violence, vote-rigging (ballot box snatching, stuffing, vote-buying), militarization among others. Of note, the total sum of the length of the previous republics barely was ten years. However, this study examines the operational environment in which the Electoral Commission operated since the beginning of the republic in 1999 and the role technology has and can play in aiding the democratization process in the country. The work relies on secondary source of data gathering and content analytical approach was adopted.